


Revenge!

by Herbeloved82



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - BDSM, BDSM, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Past Incest, graphic description of violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-12-29
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-01-06 15:43:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 15
Words: 55,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1108616
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Herbeloved82/pseuds/Herbeloved82
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In a world where the population is split between Doms and subs, Tony, an uncollared sub is still waiting for his Dom, even if he thinks he doesn't deserve one after what happened in his childhood. The Captain, HYDRA new leader never met his sub, but he needs Tony Stark to finish what Howard started. Phil and Clint, a bonded couple, are the only family that Tony ever had, and the only people he ever trusted. And now, he's risking to lose everything... or maybe he's finally going to gain what his heart never stopped to need.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Please be careful. This story is going to deal with dark themes. Please don't read if you think something could trigger you. Thanks to my Beta Anthony E. Stark. She did an Amazing job, if you see any mistakes they are all mine...

Prologue

 

_Howard Stark was the first man Captain America saw the day he was born after Project Rebirth. He met the man already of course. First during an expo and then when he enrolled in the Army and found out that Howard Stark was the brain behind the project to create a super soldier, able to end the war alone, or at least able to lead as many men as possible with the less number of losses._

 

_But back there Steve Grant Rogers was a skinny child, always sick, and with a good possibility to die before the end of the war._

 

_Now he was a man built like a Greek God and finally able to live like the Dom he always was._

 

_Howard knew his nature since the first time he saw the boy, even if he had to admit he was shocked in the beginning. And now, Howard was going to claim for himself that magnificent Dom, and do with him everything he was taught to do to bring pure pleasure in his lover._

 

_Howard Stark always had a weak spot for powerful men. To love them, to challenge himself with a relationship with a strong balancing of power. To prove that he was strong enough to dominate another Dom, or even strong and confident enough to let another Dom dominate him._

_Things that he couldn't find in any sub. Of that he was sure._

 

_They both knew that as soon as one of them met the sub meant to be his, their affair would have to stop, and they both were okay with that. It was nature after all._

 

_They simply wanted to live the they had together without fear or regrets. If they had only a little time left together, they weren't going to waste it._

 

_And Howard wanted to unleash everything he always was forced to keep caged when with subs. The dark side he always had inside. And Steve was perfect for that. Steve could take everything he had to give, and more._

 

_***_

 

_The sound of flesh hitting flesh. Deep groans filling the silence of the night. Moments stolen while the others were asleep. Moments stolen to a war that looked endless to men who thought they owned Captain America, while the only one to own that magnificent body was Howard, and Howard alone._

 

_They were fucking like beasts in heat in an empty lab, over the blueprints no one else but Howard could hope to understand. Weapons meant to defeat the Nazi and finally bring peace into a world that for many was already condemned._

 

_Steve hated those blueprints. He hated that he couldn't tell Howard to stop, he couldn't tell his lover the truth about what the Army really wanted. Because no matter what, there were men who were dying, men he cared for who had families and friends back home, and Steve knew Howard._

 

_Maybe he wasn't a good man, but he was loyal. If he knew the high ranked were studying a way to clone HYDRA's weapons, betraying everything that Captain America was, Steve knew that Howard would have destroyed everything he already created, and leave, slowing down the progress they were making._

 

_So Steven kept his silence while thrusting deep and hard inside Howard's body. Unleashing in him and on him all the fury he was carrying inside._

 

_And Howard was growling, demanding more. More pain, more force, more blood. More of Steve inside and all over him, while his semen and sweat were staining the blueprints, undying proof of what bonded Captain America to Howard Stark._

 

_***_

 

_That was the last time they had together. That was the last time Howard Stark was sane before he lost everything, starting with his own soul._


	2. I

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year to everyone.   
> No warnings for this chapter, but we are going to learn a little bit about Tony and his relationship with Clint and Phil.

I

 

Clint was watching the new Forbes number.

 

Tony was on the cover. His smart smile bright, but never reaching his eyes, and above all his bare neck. That was what almost everyone was watching. His long neck, emerging from the Italian shirt he was wearing, with the first two buttons undone.

 

That and the terrible title in big red letters.

 

_Tony Stark, the unbounded sub who runs the financial world._

 

Like Tony needed to apologize for his money or his brain, or that place as CEO of his own family industries, and all of that only because nature decided it would have been fun for him to be born a sub.

 

Like Tony already didn't pay enough for that.

 

“The title is shit.”

 

Clint couldn't agree more with his Dom. All of that because the journalist who wrote the piece thought that the place for a sub was kneeled at the feet of a Dom, or at home, cooking and being nice. Like Tony could ever accept a life like that.

 

“They don't know Tony, and they don't understand who is he and what he lived to be where he is now. And yes, maybe he's the richest, smartest and most bad mannered sub in all the world, but he has every right to be like that.”

 

Phil covered Clint's shaking hands with his own, trying to calm his upset sub.

 

Tony and Clint both came from terrible pasts, and it was hard for Clint to watch while sharks tried to have another piece of Tony, even if he knew well that the billionaire was more than able to take care of himself and give them what they deserved.

 

“He'll be okay, Clint. I promise. We'll be at the tower for him when he'll be back from his meetings, and everything will be fine.”

 

Those words seems able to calm Clint at least a bit, and Phil really hoped he could keep his words to the handsome boy he had the fortune to find and claim for himself.

 

But something inside his soul was screaming at him that that wasn't going to be a good day for Tony Stark, and Phil learned a long time ago to never leave his inner Dom's voice to go unheard.

 

***

 

Tony was desperately trying not to fall on his knees and scream. He was fast reaching the limits of his coolness and didn't want to be alone with journalists and people ready to use his unbounded status to prove he was weak and unworthy of his role in SI.

 

That was the third press conference of the day, and all Tony wanted was to curl in a ball and disappear between Clint and Phil, catching at least a few hours of rest before the nightmares.

 

And before the conference, he had two meetings with the board, demanding to know what new inventions they were going to put on the market, and demanding, for the thousandth time that the weapons branch of the industries was open again.

All of that while implying that a Dom, like his father, would have never shut it down in the first place.

 

And of course the press was asking the same. Because they knew everything that happened in his board meetings.

 

Just because the majority of them were Doms, and no one trusted him enough to accept that what he was doing, he was doing it with the best interest of his company and other people in mind.

 

He looked at the magazine left on the desk. His own faked smile was looking at him, like he pitied the Tony bombed with questions and in the same time mocked him with his bare neck. The same neck where should be a collar, indicating he was taken and cared for.

 

But Tony knew better. He was too broken. He never met his Dom, and that probably was for the better. He didn't have anything to offer. Anything to give that wasn't already taken by force.

 

“Mr Stark, was your decision to stop the weapons production due to your status as a sub?”

 

That stupid question broke the waves of self-loathing and made his mind focus on the here and now.

 

“It was due to the fact that I saw American soldiers die because of weapons meant to protect them. Enemies of this country had those weapons in their hands, because no one was there to vigil, because the Army was too eager to have always more to pay attention to what happened to those shipments they decided were too old. I made this decision because I care for our soldiers and because I know how lethal my weapons can be. In the end, I decided because I'm a damn Patriot, not because I'm a sub.”

 

Tony hoped against hope that the answer was going to be enough, but of course the press never was satisfied.

 

“Mr Stark, are you against the US Army?”

 

Of course he just said he loved their soldiers, so they had to imply that he also hated the ranks.

 

“I'm against men ready to push young people into battle-fields they are not ready for. I'm against men who only see the power they can gain without caring for those who fight, and I'm against the mentality that absolve them from every crime in the name of the higher good.”

 

***

 

Phil was listening to the conference, sighing. A side of him was proud of Tony's words, he saw too many good soldier die because of poor equipment or because their superiors were too busy to polish their medals to take care of back up plans.

 

But in the same time he hated Tony's mouth. The sub didn't have any survivor skills. He simply said what he thought, all the time, without caring for the backfiring of his words. That and he also was upset because he knew his own Boss was going to call him in maybe five, demanding to know what the hell Tony was thinking while making enemy the whole Army, and to that question Phil didn't have an answer.

 

He didn't control Tony. He helped him when the sub needed him the most, but he didn't have any power over him, and that even Fury was prone to ignore.

 

But what really was bothering Phil was that he knew the other reason Tony shut down the weapons production.

 

He was one of the few to know about the Arc Reactor in his chest. The only thing that kept him alive, and the evident sign of the torture Tony suffered during his imprisonment.

 

***

 

In the same time, in a secret base underground, someone else was watching Tony's conference. And the smirk he was wearing on his beautiful face was scary, like a child with murdering eyes.

 

“What are you watching?”

 

The voice of his best friend and right hand bothered the peace the man created into his mind simply looking at Tony. He didn't know why he was reacting like that to someone he never met in person, but that wasn't important now.

 

“I think I found what we were looking for, Soldier.”

 

The other man looked at hi like he suddenly grew a second head.

 

“Are you insane? You are the one who always talked about the importance of keeping a low profile until we are ready, and now you are thinking about... What are you thinking about exactly?”

 

The blond man laughed hard, and the sound was so cold that if the other was still human would have shivered, or ran to find a place to hide.

 

“I'm thinking, Soldier, that is time to have a guest here with us.”

 


	3. II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No warnings for this chapter... just more informations about Tony.   
> As Always thanks to my Beta, without her this story would still be a mess on my laptop

II

 

 

 

Nick Fury, director of SHIELD, wasn't a happy man. Not when he was woken up in the middle of the night by a General, demanding his presence to one of the most hidden and unfathomable base the US Army owned. And above all, not when he knew the reason of the secret meeting was one Anthony Stark and his big mouth.

 

He wished Coulson was there in his place, after all Tony was his responsibility, he was the only om the man trusted anywhere near him, but when the Army called Fury was the one to answer, maybe because he was a war hero, or maybe because he was simply unlucky enough they got his number on speed-dial.

 

The room was cold, the coffee was shit, and the company was the worst Fury remembered in a long time. That was going to be a hell of a day, and it was only the beginning, of that he was sure.

 

“So, what can I do for you, gentlemen?”

 

Fury tried very hard to be at least polite. To be his usual self wasn't going to work with men who wore more stars that the whole firmament, and in truth he was too tired for that. The sooner they told him what they wanted the sooner he could go back to his own organization and forget about them.

 

“Director Fury, did you happen to see the interview Anthony Stark gave yesterday?”

 

A rhetorical question, Nick was going to laugh on their face, who did they think they were talking to? A newborn recruit?

 

“Mr Stark has an interesting way to put things out.”

 

If they wanted to play, Nick Fury was going to show General Scott and all his attendants he was ready.

 

“Stark is an unbonded sub who is making fun of the whole army. He must be put under control.”

 

All the uniforms there nodded in agreement, and Fury was sure that everyone of them would love to put Tony Stark in his place, possibly beneath them all, tied to a bed. And for some strange reason his stomach knotted.

 

He wasn't extremely fond of Stark and he would have loved to get rid of all the migraines his bog mouth gave him on a daily basis but Tony Stark was, in his eye, above all a sub, and for that he was ready to rip apart all those bastard's throats.

 

“He's also a genius and the owner, and CEO, of one of the most important industries this country's got. An industry the Army makes deals with everyday, and one we can't allow to lose. So I suggest to you all, Sirs, not to try to make a move to endanger him in any way. He's smart enough to have plans to disappear if he feels he's not safe here anymore, and as I said we can't lose him. He's the mind behind everything technological that is saving our asses right now.”

 

General Scott wasn't happy about what Fury just said. In part because he knew the man was right, and in part because he couldn't admit that the most powerful army in the world depended by a sub.

 

“There are others industries ready to take Stark's place, Fury, and you know that.”

 

The man was on the verge of a nasty remark, but he bit his tongue.

 

“Yes, and none of them can offer what Tony Stark got. Without him we are exposed to the attacks. We were able to keep hidden HYDRA's resurrection only because Stark's technology helped us to help the worst from happening. Without that, we are targets. And for what I know, General, we aren't a step closer to find out who is behind HYDRA now.”

 

“We don't need Stark to stop HYDRA, we have weapons and men ready to sacrifice themselves in order to find them and destroy them once and for all. We don't need a scared sub who couldn't even stand a day in the field.”

 

The director of SHIELD was furious now. He always knew the high ranks were blind about a lot of things, but listen to them talking about sacrificing thousands of men for nothing wasn't something he liked.

 

He wasn't a dreamer, like Stark, but he could understand why the man hated that way of thinking. It was too common nowadays, and wrong to the core.

 

“We don't even know where their bases are. We only have what it remains from the WWII, and none of the sites they occupied back there are active anymore. We lost Steve Rogers, the hero we created to win the war, and they are still here and active. We aren't close to win this war, gentlemen, and as I said we need Stark, like we needed his father all those years ago.”

 

General Scott was green in the face. Like he was in physical distress, and Fury's sixth sense was screaming that their little chat wasn't over yet. Even if Fury wished the contrary.

 

“We have more important problems than a bad behaved sub right now, director. The President himself gave me permission to show you a file that we got during the years, about the new HYDRA and what they did since the moment they woke up again. There are things here – and he showed Fury a folder that one of the attendants took from a bag a few moments before, making his slip on the table towards the man – that only the President knows. Now HYDRA is one of your problems, director. But we want a weekly update about everything you are going to do and discover.”

 

Fury was ready to disagree when General Scott stopped him with an imperious movement of his hand.

 

“That's an order from the President himself, Fury, and is you fail to obey, we are ready to discharge you from your actual position. Am I clear?”

 

“Sir, yes, Sir.”

 

That was everything he could answer after all. He needed time to study the files they gave him, and he wanted to do that in his office, where he knew no one could have put cameras or listening devices.

 

A bad feeling was crawling all over his spine. Like HYDRA was closer than they all thought, and above all ready to strike even if they had no idea yet.

 

He needed to be back to his office and make sure that everyone of his men were ready to fight.

 

***

 

Phil was in the living room of Stark Tower. A room used only by family, and that meant Tony himself, him and Clint. No one else had access to that side of the tower. Other agents, like Natasha, stayed at the Tower, but never so close to Tony's room.

 

He as waiting for the billionaire to come back from the meeting. He saw earlier in his eyes that he needed him. He needed a Dom and everything Phil could do for him. It was a long time that Phil didn't see Tony so lost and broken. The journalists and probably his own board did a number on him, and now Tony was once again the broken child that Howard left behind.

 

He could only hope that all Tony needed was to let everything go, but a sad gaze run to one locked door, and the weight of the key was like a boulder in his breast-pocket.

 

***

 

 

Clint was kneeled by the couch, trying to relax and calm down his mind. He was worried about Tony, and about Phil too. He just wanted his family to be okay.

 

The sad whisper he let go alone was enough to tell how really stressed out the young man was. He wasn't the high skilled and hard trained assassin SHIELD had in his ranks, he simply was a sub knowing well what it means to be broken and alone, and suffering for someone he looked at the big brother he wished he had when he was a child.

 

“He'll be OK, baby boy.”

 

Clint looked at Phil with sad eyes. Phil wasn't a man used to make worthless promises: he was strong and sure of himself, but this time Clint could read the doubts on his eyes.

 

“That's all I ask, Sir.”

 

Clint was slipping fast in his sub-space, the only place in the world he really felt safe; Phil sat on the couch, and a small smile formed on his lips when Clint's head rested on his thigh.

 

They left the silence gently embrace their bodies and minds, and let everything go preparing themselves for whatever the night was going to take.

 

***

 

Tony was ready to cry the moment the door closed behind him. He was finally home. He was where he was safe and hidden from the outside world. But sadly tat wasn't enough. Not after his day.

 

He let the suitcase he was holding hit the floor without caring where it ended up. Tony Stark wasn't a tidy man, but only in his lab. In his heaven he felt free to be himself, and to be as messy as he wanted because no one, not even Phil, had the freedom to enter his kingdom without Tony's permission.

 

The lab was the first and only thing that Tony ever owned that was his and his alone, and he wasn't going to let that be tore from him. But as a genius, Tony also knew that his house was what people looked at, and was also the place where the little and strange group of broken people and heroes he called friends lived. So he promised to keep the chaos only where no one could really see that. The lab, and his own mind.

 

His brown, lost eyes run to the living room, where he saw Phil sat on the couch, and Clint close to him, his eyes closed while his Dom was slowly caressing his hair.

 

Not for the first time Tony felt his stomach drop. He would have given everything he owned to have a Dom taking care of him like Phil did with Clint.

 

And in that moment, while he was wishing about something that he knew was impossible, the voice he feared all day, started to scream in his mind.

 

Tony didn't even have the time to prepare himself before his body started to shake so hard it was a miracle he didn't fall on his face while trying to move a few steps into the room.

 

“Tony...”

 

Someone was calling his name, but the voice was too far away, and Howard was screaming so hard and in the same time he was whispering, and Tony was defenseless against him, again.

 

“Tony... listen to me...”

 

The voice was more insistent now. And for a moment Howard shut up.

 

“Breath, boy, and come here.”

 

Tony knew that voice, he was safe when that voice talked to him. There wasn't malice or cruelty in he tone, so Tony did what the voice told him, following it even if his eyes didn't really see where he was going.

 

“Keep breathing, boy, like that... in and out. Calm down, you are safe now.”

 

Phil knew better than to move and go to Tony when a panic attack hit. He learned well from his mistakes the first time that happened. So now, all he did was to talk to him and lead him into the room and close. Making him feel safe and cared for.

 

The hardest part in that was to keep the rage out of his voice. The only time he wasn't able to do that Tony thought Phil was mad at him and hid in his lab for three days before Clint was able to sneak there and tell him that Phil wasn't mad at him at all, he was worried and was feeling guilty because he upset Tony so bad, but he wasn't mad.

 

Tony needed another two days before to believe that totally.

 

When Tony's sight started to work again, he saw he was in the living room. He made it after all. The voice was back, but the panic at least was under control, so Tony thought about that as a victory.

 

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is going to deal with past child abuse, and a hard punishment. If this is something that can trigger you please don't read. There will be a point that could confuse people, but please keep in mind that Phil is only helping Tony. There wil be more notes at the end of the chapter.

III

 

 

Phil's stomach knotted. Tony was a worse mess that he was expecting him to be, and his hopes never were high in the first place.

 

A part of him wanted to tell Clint to go into their room, and lock the door to shield him from the shit that he knew was going to happen.

 

But he knew that Tony needed Clint right now, almost as much he needed Phil himself. Because at least in that room, Tony needed to know he wasn't alone, he needed to know that Phil was able to take care of him, and that nothing bad could happen, because even if Phil was a Dom, Clint was a sub like him, and he would have never let another sub suffer under his eyes without doing something to stop that.

 

Tony really needed a Dom, but he couldn't trust one totally, that fear, it was stronger than his genius mind. He needed another sub to reach his sub-space in a relative peace.

 

So Clint was going to stay, at least in the beginning. That was mandatory, and Tony was clear about that since the first time he accepted Phil's help.

 

Tony's trust was something precious, hard to earn even in small doses, and Phil wasn't delusional enough to believe that he had a lot of that, but he was happy with what he could, and was ready to do everything in his power to help him.

 

But in his heart Phil was still praying every night that Tony's Dom was somewhere out there, finding his way to the sub born to be his, because he wasn't sure how long he could still help Tony with his hands metaphorically tied by the fact he wasn't Tony's Dom.

 

When Phil was sure enough time passed, and Tony was ready for the second step, he spoke again.

 

“Come here.”

 

Tony knew that Phil meant for him to move in the middle of the room, and he did that relieved that his legs were stable enough to lead him.

 

“Undress. Slowly, and then come to me on your knees.”

 

All day long Tony dreaded and needed that words. To let go everything, to let Phil finally take care of him. An in the same time, the old, hated feeling of fear. Fear of the Dom he trusted as much as he could. Fear of Doms in general. Fear of Howard and his voice.

 

***

 

That was what Tony had needed and feared all day.

 

Phil ordering him to take off his clothes and show him his body, covering with his voice the one inside his mind.

 

The one that was still eating at that little self respect he still had telling him again and again how ugly and worthless he was.

 

“Now boy, show me that beautiful body of yours.”

 

For a moment the voice inside Tony's mind shut up, letting Phil's words free to soak his tired soul.

 

Beautiful.

 

Tony knew he wasn't beautiful, but Phil's words seems so right, and so true, that for a second he really believed them.

 

“ _Only because you are a worthless whore, ready to spread your legs for the first Dom who calls you any nice name... right Tony?”_

 

Tony closed his eyes and focused only on Phil and Clint's breath while with shaking hands he started to loosen his tie.

 

“You are safe Tony. Show me how beautiful you are, how ready to follow my demands.”

 

A tense smile formed on Tony's lips while he let go a shaking breath, he was glad that Phil knew him so well, even if he wasn't the Dom born to own him. But Phil was more than a Dom, he was a friend, and he trusted his few friends with everything. That's why he kept undressing, slowly, fighting with the small buttons of his dress shirt.

 

“ _Make it good, Tony. Let's them see the only thing you are good for. Let them see what they'll be free to fuck to their heart desire, my whore.”_

 

“Where are you Tony?”

 

Tony's hands stopped fighting with the buttons for a moment, and he raised his eyes, daring to look at Phil.

 

Clint was still kneeled at his feet. He was still safe because he wasn't the only sub in the room. And then the thought hit him.

 

He was with Clint and Phil. He was safe.

 

“I'm in my living room, with you and Clint, Sir.”

 

A little smile curved Phil's lips.

 

“Indeed. You are with us Tony. You are safe. Now show me your beautiful body, baby, and remember, you are safe.”

 

The shirt slowly fell on the floor, and the Arc Reactor was finally free to cast its blue light in the room, showing everyone that Tony Stark really had a heart.

 

The scars around the reactor were still angry looking and made Tony even more self conscious of his own body. He knew nothing in him was beautiful anymore. He was ruined and scarred and stained, but for some strange reasons Clint and Phil were still with him, were still the family he chose, and for that Tony was glad.

 

He didn't want to disappoint them, so he kept undressing while fighting Howard's voice.

 

***

 

Tony had a beautiful body, Phil was well aware of that, like he was aware of how deeply Tony's self esteem was destroyed by Howard Stark himself.

 

It was useless to tell Tony he was beautiful, but that never stopped Phil from saying the words every time he could.

 

Phil always was glad for his nature and dynamics. When he found out he was a Dom, like his mother he wasn't happy because the world thought he got the power and freedom, but because he knew out there, in the world was the one he was going to love and protect all his life long.

 

But when he met Tony, for the first time in his life he hated what he was. He was well aware of Doms abusing and hurting subs, he saw that happen all too often in the army and even in SHIELD, at least before Nick Fury took the power in his hands, but he never saw the amount of damages done to Tony.

 

The first time Agent Coulson saw Tony's scars he spent five hours in the gym, almost hurting the recruits unlucky enough to cross his path.

 

Phil didn't need to be a soldier to know that those scars were made by hate and need to hurt and destroy. He saw enemy soldiers being gentler with prisoners that Howard Stark ever was with Tony.

 

And now, years later, watching Tony slowly undress for him, showing his body with shame, still made Phil's blood boil in his veins. Because no matter what he wished and needed he knew he couldn't change what happened to the beautiful soul that was shining in front of him.

 

***

 

Tony slowly unbuttoned and unzipped his tailored trousers, his hands were still shaking and his eyes were frantically looking for Clint, to make sure he was still there, that he wasn't alone.

 

When he found Clint, still perfectly at ease on his knees, close to Phil, Tony felt a small smile forming on his lips.

 

Yes, he was still safe.

 

“ _How pathetic, you weak and useless creature... finding comfort in a sub, when all you are good for is to be fucked by a Dom.”_

 

The small smile disappeared and a pained expression took its place in Tony's eyes. It looked like Howard was out to have his blood all over again tonight, and Tony didn't know how to ask for help. Not even to Phil.

 

“Tony?”

 

Tony knew the tone Phil used. He wanted to know about his anxiety he wanted to know how close Howard really was. But Tony didn't want to share, he didn't want to be forced to admit that Howard had been too close to him all day. But he also knew that he didn't have in himself to deny anything to Phil, not after everything the man did for him.

 

“He's too close, Sir. Too close.”

 

Tony watched Phil cautiously, his body was ready to run. He could lock himself in his lab and stay there for days if Phil was going to be mad because of his words. But Phil only sighed, a pained expression in his eyes too, and a sadness that broke Tony's heart.

 

Phil wasn't mad at Tony, Phil was hurt because Tony was hurt, and once again faced by the Agent's love, Tony didn't know how to react. He knew he wasn't worth that love, but wasn't strong enough to run away from it.

 

Tony got rid of his trousers and silk boxer and elegantly dropped on his knees. His body had the grace of a feline, and when he started to crawl to Phil his muscles moved like in a dance, making sure the grace that was innate for Tony showed in all its force.

 

When he was close enough, and because Phil didn't say otherwise, Tony put his forehead on the Agent's lap, mimic one of Clint's most loved position.

 

In the beginning Tony didn't understand why Clint found so much pleasure in that small gesture, in being that close to his Dom.

 

Then once Clint told him to try for himself, and Tony learned for the first time the comfort a real Dom can give.

 

But today the closeness wasn't enough. Today feeling Phil's warmth through his clothes wasn't enough. Today listening to Clint quiet breathing wasn't enough. Howard was too close, the meetings were to tiring, the doubts over his capacity to lead SI too heavy on his shoulders the words of his board members too hurtful for Tony to find peace in a simple gesture.

 

“Tony?”

 

***

 

Phil put his fingers on Tony's head, massaging his hair, caressing him like he would have done with a big and upset cat, but the tension wasn't leaving Tony's body. His shoulders were still contracted, his breathe still labored, like Tony was still fighting panic and stress.

 

Slowly he put his fingers under Tony's chin and pushed his head up, so he could meet Tony's expressive eyes.

 

“Tony?”

 

Phil knew what Tony needed. He saw Tony in distress too many time not to know how the night was going to end, but he needed for Tony to ask.

 

For a moment Phil almost thought that Tony was going to run. He almost thought that the day had been too hard for Tony to allow him to voice his own needs. The pain in his eyes, the tension in his body everything was threatening to destroy Tony Stark and Phil needed to be allowed to help, but it was Tony's decision, he couldn't force the other man or he would have been the same as his abuser.

 

***

 

Tony knew what Phil needed to know. And he knew it was his own choice. Phil told him that since the first time their strange arrangement was decided. And even if he was fighting the need to disappear and lock himself away from the world, losing himself in trying to fix the world because that was something he could do, Tony decided to trust Phil once more.

 

“Red, Sir”

 

Tony heard Clint's breath cut in his throat, but the younger man didn't speak and neither looked at Tony. Phil trained the younger man well, and Clint was proud to show that. He was proud to show everyone that even a fucked up sub like himself could make Phil happy.

 

Tony didn't look at Clint or Phil when the Dom asked Clint to leave them alone. Sending him to their room, and demanding him to wait for Phil on their bed. And once again Tony didn't hear a word from Clint. He just raised and kissed Phil before he silently left the room.

 

 

***

 

Phil waited a few moments, to make sure that Clint was safe in their quarters, away from the hell of pain and tears that soon was going to unleash its ugly jaws on Tony. He waited for the elevator to alert him that the archer was safe in the room that was his sanctuary before to move a single muscle.

 

Since he was a young Dom in training he never loved to hurt a sub without a good reason. He never was someone who thought that being a Dom was a good excuse to abuse that power. When he met Clint, so scared and angry, so full of hate for the whole world that abandoned him, he already knew well that sometimes pain and blood and even humiliation are simply paths a Dom must walk to give a sub what he needed.

 

With Tony he learned that sometimes those paths must be taken to the extreme to put nightmares to sleep.

 

When Phil was sure that Clint was safe he looked at Tony one last time, and he knew that the genius needed him and everything he was able to give. In a moment the serious SHIELD Agent and handler was gone, and in his place was the strict Dom that many feared, the same Dom both Clint and Tony desperately needed.

 

Phil moved from the couch with grace and power and walked to the hidden door that only a really small number of people knew about. The key was heavy in his hand and the man didn't need to turn to make sure Tony was following him. He simply knew the genius was crawling slowly behind him, he was trained well enough to know he couldn't take back his own words now.

 

When the door opened Phil felt every doubt leave his body and mind. He was sure of himself and knew that what was going to happen was necessary for Tony's well being and his own sanity. It was time for pain and blood, and hopefully, after that Tony would have been well enough to accept comfort and love once again.

 

“After you, Tony.”

 

Phil waited for Tony to crawl into the room before to lock the door behind them, and everything was ready for them to start their session.

 

 

***

 

Tony was shaking. He knew well that he couldn't take back his words, he couldn't run anymore and he didn't want. The man needed what he knew Phil could give him, he needed to silence Howard's words and gain a little peace for his broken soul. And Phil was the only one able to give all of that to Tony.

 

He crawled quietly behind the Dom and left everything in his hands. He didn't need his voice right now, and he didn't need his huge brain. He just needed to follow Phil's orders and moves and let the man take care of everything else.

 

In the room, the one always locked, Tony didn't have to fight to show he was worth his place in the world or as CEO of his own Industry. He didn't need to show he was a genius or how good he was fixing things or creating them from nothing. In that room he was free to be simply Tony, simply the broken sub he really believed didn't deserve to ever find his own Dom.

 

He crawled in front of Phil and when he heard the lock click in place he reached that state in his mind where he allowed himself to let go everything. The trust he had for Phil was higher in that little corner of his mind and for that it was always hard for Tony to reach it.

 

He went in the middle of t he room, the hard floor under his hands and knees, the coolness of the room, everything was created to make sure Tony couldn't forget where he was, and why. But what made that room different, what made sure that Tony wasn't scared to death by the thought that he was alone and at the mercy of a Dom, was Phil himself.

 

His presence was huge and filled the room perfectly. Tony knew perfectly he was there with him and not because he saw the man walk inside, but because he could feel his presence in every corner of the room.

 

Everything in the room had been chosen by Phil. Every tool, every single piece of the furniture, some of them were even hand-made by Phil himself, everything had a story to tell about how much Phil cared for his sub and for the sub he had adopted in more ways than one.

 

Tony took his place in the middle of the room, showing himself to Phil in a typical pose of pure submission.

 

He wanted to close his eyes and run away in his mind at least, but Howard was lurking in the darkness, waiting for Tony to fall in his trap, waiting for the little lamb to be ready for sacrifice. The first time Howard had him kneelt in a room was his study. The room was carpeted and even now Tony could still remember the burns of the carpet on his knees. He could remember Howard's harsh words, the smell of alcohol and the noises of the papers his father was signing. Tony could still remember the taste of his father in his mouth. The pressure of his cock pushing to fast and too deep into his mouth, making him gag, making him wish he could pass away and forget what was happening.

 

Tony felt his body shiver and tears forming in his eyes. He needed to stop thinking, he needed to stop listening to his own cries. The cries and begs of a child who still doesn't understand why his father hated him so much.

 

He felt a strong hand under his chin, forcing his head up, and the man knew he couldn't deny the Dom the right to look into his eyes and soul.

 

Tony saw that Phil was still dressed. He was powerful, and beautiful, and for a moment Tony had to think about the reason why a man like Phil was losing his time with him.

 

“Where are you, boy?”

 

Phil was calm and composed, the very opposite of Howard. He didn't need violence to make sure that Tony was listening, that he was with him and him alone and had his whole attention.

 

“In his study. He's hurting me...”

 

Phil's grip on Tony's chin hardened.

 

“No boy, you are not. I'm going to show you where you are and with who.”

 

Tony felt Phil's hands on his arms, forcing him to stand up and follow the man to the St. Andrew's cross.

 

Phil took his time preparing Tony. Before to tie the man to the cross with leather cuffs attached with chains to the black varnished wood he took Tony's wrists in his hands. First the right one that was kissed before the leather could cover the delicate skin and flesh and the left one that was treated with the same care.

 

Phil decided not to tie Tony's ankles, but before to step back and look at his work. Phil takes his time to touch Tony's back, reassuring him with gentle touches and the warmth of his hands over the genius's naked back.

 

Just simple touches and Phil's mere presence and once again Howard was silent. But Tony was still in the study, he was still at his mercy and was afraid the monster was going to get him all over again.

 

Tony was so lost in his mind that he didn't hear Phil unbuckling his belt. He didn't her the noise of the Italian leather slowly slipping from the loops of the tailored trousers that Phil was wearing. But he heard when the belt was cracked close to his ear.

 

“ _Is he as good as I was, my whore? Can he make you scream as I always did? Can he show you how worthless you are when you aren't squirming under me? When you don't have my cock deep inside you?”_

 

Tony felt the tears pooling in his eyes, and he tried, he tried hard not to cry, not to listen, but deep down Tony knew that everyone of Howard's words were simply the truth. He was worthless...

 

“I want you to count til one hundred, boy. Then you can stop. But I won't. And you can scream. I don't mind you screaming Tony. I want to know what I'm doing to you. I want to see the exact moment when you'll stop screaming because of the anguish, I want to see the moment when you'll give me everything like you are supposed to do and allow me to take care of you...”

 

Tony never heard more determination in Phil's voice, not even during a mission or a meeting. He knew there wasn't any place where he could hide. Not from Phil. He was going to give the man everything, and he was going to suffer in hell before his mind and body allowed that to happen.

 

The first stroke of the belt hit Tony between his shoulder-blades and made him scream in surprise more than in pain. And he regretted that. He hated to show weakness, a Stark can't allow himself to be weak. Others were going to use it against Tony, others were going to see that as the proof that he was too lame and weak to be Howard's heir.

 

“Tony...”

 

Phil voice was cold and dangerous. And Tony knew he displeased his Dom. A pang of pure sorrow hit him and he almost cursed himself. Here he was, screwing up the only good thing happened to him in a very long time.

 

“One, thank you Sir.”

 

Tony knew that Phil didn't tell him to thank for every stroke, but it made him feel better simply to do that, simply showing in one more way how glad he was that Phil was with him.

 

The second stroke hit Tony almost in the same place. Phil wanted to be sure to see blood, soon, and for that Tony was glad. His obsession with blood was born when Tony was young, and Phil didn't need a lot of time to find that out how deep was Tony's need to see his own blood running during a punishment or during a hard session.

 

“Two, thank you Sir.”

 

Tony could feel the pain radiating from the middle of his back and he knew it was only the beginning, the road to reach peace was still long, so the noises forming in his throat weren't screams of pain, they were sign of a deep and shameful pleasure. Howard made sure to ruin pain for Tony early in his life.

 

When the third stroke hit it was on the right shoulder and Tony only had time to count and thank Phil before the forth kissed the skin of the other shoulder. Since then Tony only had time to count because his brain was reduced to its basic functions.

 

Tony could feel the blood reaching for the places on his back and button hit with more force and frequency.

 

In the beginning he could feel the sweat pooling on his skin, showing that slowly the pain was taking the place of every other feelings Tony held all day.

 

Then the flesh started to split open and the sweat burned its way inside the new cuts. When blood took the place of any other liquid, Tony's mind finally found the peace it was looking for.

 

The screams begun to be louder. Finally free to reach Tony's throat and escape from their prison. The blood running over his back and pooling at his feet was liberating. With every drop that fell on the floor Tony could feel Howard's voice and influence, his presence, purged from his body and soul, and finally he was at peace.

 

The genius didn't even realize when he finally reached one hundred. He knew only because for a moment Phil stopped his belt. Tony could feel his Dom moved from behind him, and for a moment he was confused and afraid he did something wrong.

 

Did he missed a number? Did he messed up in some other ways? His mind stopped to worry only when Tony felt the plastic of a cool bottle pressed against his lips, and he suddenly realized his throat was dry as the desert and he was thirsty like never before in his life. He drained almost half of the bottle in one gulp before Phil moved again.

 

“You are such a good boy Tony, taking my strokes so beautifully.”

 

Tony's heart filled with proud to Phil's words. So when Phil took back his place behind Tony, the genius knew he was doing well, he was pleasing his Dom, and that was all he wanted.

 

When Phil started again to move his belt and the leather kissed his skin again and again, draining more blood, and making the flesh red and hot, Tony let go his screams, he let go everything he still was holding and the more his breath became erratic and the pain took possession of every cell of his body, the more Tony felt free.

 

He didn't care anymore for his company or what other Doms and subs thought about his naked neck, or what tomorrow would bring to him. He only cared for the Dom who was with him, and his whole focus was on satisfying him. He was happy and free like only in that room he could hope to be.

 

Tony trusted Phil. Tony trusted him to know when to stop, to know when Tony had had enough, he trusted the man to stop before damages were done, and he was right to trust Phil like that. When the agent reached two hundred strokes he let the belt drop from his hand. It was over.

 

Tony was almost passed out when he felt Phil move again. This time Tony could hear him moving around the room, and he heard water running from the adjacent bathroom. When Phil came back Tony could smell soap and disinfectant; his Dom was ready to take care of him.

 

“It's over, Tony. It's all over now. You were such a good boy. So perfect...”

 

Tony smiled at Phil's words. He was at peace. His mind was finally silent and his body in pain, he was perfectly fine and happy.

 

***

 

Phil knew he had little time to prepare everything he needed to take care of Tony. The genius was already almost passed out, and his back needed attention before he could take him to bed and watch over him and Clint all night.

 

The bathtub was filling with warm water to which Phil added bath salts and scented oils to moisturize and clean Tony's cuts. He knew they were going to burn as hell when he put Tony in the water, but he also knew well that his kin needed the attention and the muscles needed to relax or Tony was going to be in more pain that Phil ever wanted.

 

Phil let the water run while he went back to Tony and started to untie his wrists. When the first one was free he slipped between the cross and Tony's body so he could hold the genius while freeing him and carried him in the bathroom cuddling Tony's body in his arms, being careful with the cuts on his back.

 

“Thank you Sir.”

 

Tony's voice was just a whisper, and Phil could hear him only because of his training. But he smiled warmly at the genius in his arms.

 

“You are welcome my boy. You are welcome.”

 

When Phil put Tony in the water, slowly and with the same care he would have used with a child, Tony hissed and tried to escape from the pain erupting from his tortured back, but Phil's arms and hands were strong and kept him in place, making sure that every cut was covered by water.

 

The agent made sure that every inch of Tony's body was washed and massaged, using the softest cloth ever, and making sure that Tony could feel how much he loved to take care of his body like he just did with his mind and soul.

 

When Phil was satisfied that Tony's body was relaxed and he was almost asleep he knew it was time to take the drained genius to bed where he was going to put ointments and salves on the deeper cuts. He knew some of them were going to need stitches too, but for the moment that could wait.

 

***

 

Clint was tense and almost ready to jump from the bed and run to find Phil and Tony and make sure them both were okay. He knew Phil told him to staying their room, but Clint never was good to follow order when he was worried for who he loved.

 

When the door opened slowly Clint raised his gaze even if he didn't get permission and only when he saw Phil with Tony safely in his arms begun to breathe normally again. But only after a moment of perfect stillness he jumped from the bed and ran to Phil, helping the man to adjust Tony on their bed.

 

It wasn't new for Tony to share their bed after a session with Phil, he was safe with Clint close, and that helped his mind to set back and realize he was loved and in no danger, so that the genius could rest and recover.

 

As soon as Tony's body hit the blankets he nested between them, snuggling his face in the pillow case where Clint and Phil's scents mixed together. He was finally home with the family he wanted.

 

When Tony's back was finally disinfected and covered it was time for both Clint and Phil to take their place as close as Tony as possible. As usual Phil was going to lay in the middle, so that both sub could curl up by his side and use his chest as a pillow. Like that Phil could be sure that Clint and Tony both were safe in his arms.

 

The night was quiet and for once Tony didn't have any nightmares while sleeping with Clint and Phil. The regular breathing of the two more important people in the world to Phil, lulled his mind in a peaceful state. He didn't slept, but he rested, and that was good because Phil knew he was going to have a hard day in a few hours.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> When Tony says "Red", a word usually used to stop a scene, he's only saying Phil that he needs for him to shut Howard's voice in his mind. Is a reversal rule they enstablished between them. It's not what would happen in real life, but keep in mind that this is only a story.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry I used Rhodes like this... but I don't regret anything ^^

IV

 

“We can't keep going on like this. He's always more and more lost.”

 

Clint was restless; he had to endure a two hours long meeting with Maria Hill and other Doms who never had tried to hide how much they underestimated Clint because of his state. And now, after a catastrophic phone call with a Tony locked up in his lab after a day from hell with his Board members once again demanding from him to find a temporary Dom to show to the world that he really wasn't going to lead SI as an uncollared sub, Clint Barton had had enough and was curled up at his Dom's feet. Phil was finishing his job for the day and in the same time listening to his sub's worries, making sure he was okay.

 

“We can only do what Tony is allowing us baby bird, we can't push him. You have no idea how much I hate that I can't do more for him, Clint. I wish there was a way to find his Dom.”

 

Clint let go a pained sigh. Even if that was possible, no one could predict if Tony's Dom was going to be a good man or a bastard, and that was only one of the many things that were worrying Clint and Phil to their core.

 

“We'll have to bring him out of his lab and be sure he's going to eat supper. It's going to be a long night. Are you up for that?”

 

Clint nodded, but he froze when the door opened without even a knock. Maria Hill, high level inside SHIELD ranks and second in command – side by side with Phil – strutted into the office like she owned not only the place, but the men too.

 

“Coulson... you have to put a leash on Stark.” Her voice was cold and full of hate, and Phil knew that the day was going to get even worse.

 

“He can't keep behaving like he's doing. He can't keep up this ridiculous act of stopping the production of weapons just because he got kidnapped in Afghanistan – where he wasn't even supposed to be. He risked it because he wanted to show a sub can do what a Dom can, and he payed for his stubbornness. And above all he must stop behaving like he's a Dom. He should have been collared a long time ago.”

 

Coulson was disgusted by the woman and her words, and what enraged him even more was because he knew she really believed everything she just said, even if she didn't know what really happened to Tony during his imprisonment.

 

She sat on a chair like a queen on her throne, and it was clear that she didn't have any intention to let go of the subject anytime soon.

 

“You should have collared him a long time ago, Coulson, and have him firmly under SHIELD control.”

 

Phil could hear Clint's breath stuck in his throat. Those words were not only disrespectful of their bond, but they also belong to a time long lost in history – when subs had been seen only as objects and collared against their will by people who didn't care about the sacredness of bonds.

 

“Should I remind you, Maria, that Tony is not my bonded one, and that we are not living in the 30s anymore? No one has the right to collar a sub who is not a bonded one too, and I won't hurt and disrespect my sub doing something like that. I would never hurt and betray Tony's trust with something so vile.”

 

Maria didn't like to be talked to like that by anybody, not even a man who was superior to her if only by age.

 

“And should I remind you that this organization was created by his father? What's going to happen if one day he decides to take it back? He shouldn't even been allowed to take control over SI, he can't be trusted with something as precious and delicate as a secret organization.”

 

“SI has increased tenfold since Tony took over it. Its stocks are the most valuable possession all over the world. All the investors are more than happy to earn billions thanks to an uncollared sub, Maria. I'd say that he's doing an amazing job; above all if we think he has to fight everyday against assholes who would like to humiliate him just because Tony is so much better than them all.”

 

Maria Hill was trying to decide if Agent Coulson had just called her an asshole or not.

 

“I think that Tony Stark deserves a lot more respect than what you, and many like you, are willing to give him. He's a consultant for SHIELD only due to his friendship with Clint...”

 

“Don't sell yourself short Coulson. You are very fond of Stark, and strangely enough, he respects you and your authority. That's the reason you were sent to him. We were hoping for more, as you know, and I still hope that soon you'll see the necessity for more extreme measures with him. For now the Director is OK with waiting, but if he goes wild Director Fury will order you to put your collar on him – force it on him if necessary – and if your integrity won't allow you, I'm sure we can find someone ready to deal with Stark.”

 

Phil's hands wanted to go for his gun, and only all his willpower and the years spent training in the army and with SHIELD prevented him from killing the bitch.

 

“Like Stane? I remember well how that plan worked. We almost lost Tony to a mad man who could have been his father and who you chose as his Dom, even if I told you and Fury not to even think about something like that. Leave Tony alone, Maria. If you keep pushing him like you are currently doing you'll end up creating your own enemy, and this time it will be a very powerful one.”

 

“Are you threatening me, Agent Coulson?” Maria couldn't believe that what should have been a simple chat was going to backfire on her so bad. No one ever threatened her without pay, but she knew that Phil Coulson was almost totally untouchable. She couldn't risk to have an enemy so powerful.

 

“No Maria, I'm just giving you advice. As Fury's second in command, it is my duty to keep people from making his life even more complicated with bad mistakes, and losing Tony would be the worst mistake ever.”

 

The woman left the office without another word, but Phil recognized the gaze in her eyes. She was planning on revenge, and that gave the agent a very bad feeling that he tried to ignore at least for now. He had two subs to take care of tonight.

 

When the silence lasted enough to tell Clint that Maria wasn't going to come back, and that they were alone, he let go his fury.

 

“That... That....” Clint was shaking with rage and pain. He hated when people spoke badly about Tony, above all if those people were supposed to have his back.

 

“Clint, be careful about what you say. Maria is a Dom, and your superior, and I'd hate to have to punish you for disrespecting her. Tony needs you tonight, don't let what just happen ruin your time with him please.”

 

It was rare for Phil to beg for something, but he really was worried that Maria could take revenge for his words on his sub.

 

The punishment for a sub disrespecting a superior officer was public, and required not less that 50 strokes with the bullwhip, and he was sure that it was a long time now that Hill was waiting to see that punishment hitting Clint. Phil could be the second in command, but Maria always had a strong influence on Nick Fury.

 

Rumors said that the two Doms, both unbonded, had an affair going on between them, and Phil was probably the only human being alive to know that the rumors were true.

 

“I just hate that she thinks that just because Tony is a sub he's not worth like anyone else working for SHIELD. Tony is one of the most amazing minds that our race has ever produced, and people only see that he's wearing a collar.”

 

“People are jealous of Tony, baby bird. They don't know how hard he had to work to be where he is now; they don't know what he survived. People are mean, Clint – you should know.”

 

Indeed, he knew well. Clint snuggled closer to Phil's legs, curling up between them, seeking for the comfort his Dom was always ready to provide.

 

“But I found you, Sir. When will Tony find his peace?” Phil sighed painfully. He really had no idea.

 

***

 

“Do you ever think about him?”

 

The Soldier knew deep down that his Captain, and friend, deeply missed the connection with his sub. And he also knew that after all that time spent alone, the man had begun to think that his sub was gone, lost forever somewhere in the past.

 

“Every single day of my life, Soldier. And I miss him, even if I never had the chance to meet him.”

 

The Soldier hoped against hope that the man he was following, the man he was ready to die for, could somehow find happiness and peace, because he really deserved that after everything he lost.

 

“You are too quiet, Soldier. Is there something that you want to tell me? It is about the mole we have inside SHIELD?”

 

“Nothing to talk about, Captain. Our little mole is perfectly integrated now, No one suspects anything, they are so sure that they're leading the game and it makes them think they aren't vulnerable.”

 

The Captain was silent for a few seconds, his mind lost in plans and memories. “I'm worried about Fury's right hand. He's a man I would like to have by my side Soldier.”

 

“His sub is keeping him distracted enough.” A smirk formed on the Soldier's lips, and his black rimmed eyes glistened with malice. “We really don't have to worry about him. He'll probably be the one to realize that something is wrong, but it will be too late.”

 

***

 

Tony was working with Dummy when Phil arrived in the lab. He was one of the few people alive allowed to have security so high that he could enter the lab every time he wanted. He could also overpower JARVIS' directives and codes, so basically Phil had the same freedom of access to the lab as Tony himself.

 

“Dinner is almost ready Tony. And JARVIS informed me that you are already breaking our deal about the time you spend in the lab of more than 2 hours. I don't want to take away your privileges in the lab, but I won't look at you hurting yourself without stepping in.”

 

Tony could protest. He cold have taken back the deal done with Phil simply telling the man that he wasn't his Dom, and he didn't have right to order him around. But Phil always had been fair and gentle to him. He always understood when Tony had to spent his nights working to keep the board members from stealing his society. He always understood when the genius' mind simply needed to create because Tony couldn't shut it down. And in truth, right now Tony didn't really need to be in his lab, it was just a habit. Tony knew he needed to spend time with the strange family he found, and he really wanted to be close to Clint right now.

 

“Is he OK?” Tony always worried for the other sub. He knew all too well how hard was for a sub to work in a place full of Doms, and even if he had Phil by his side, Tony knew the two couldn't really spend all their time together because Phil's level of security was a lot higher than Clint's, and in Tony's opinion that sucked.”

 

Phil never ceased to be amazed by Tony's attention and devotion for Clint. “He's had a hard day full of meetings, and Maria was present.”

 

Tony shivered. Maria Hill always made very clear what she thought about subs, and Tony was glad she didn't have one.

 

“She shouldn't even be there, Phil. I read her reports, I read her handlers notes. She's not fit for command or for working in a team. She's a lone wolf unable to form a bond... I have no idea how she managed to reach her position. She's dangerous, clinically dangerous, and I really don't understand why she's even allowed to work with subs.”

 

Phil knew that Tony was right, even if he shouldn't have known about those notes. And when he looked at Tony with a raised eyebrow the sub only shrugged. “I had to know who I was going to work with, and for a long time I really thought to tell Fury to go to hell just because he allowed her that close to the command.”

 

Phil sighed again. He was one of the few people allowed to know that something terrific and tragic happened in Hill's past, something that left her unable to form a bond. But Maria was well protected, she got important friends, and Director Fury wasn't the first one of the list. If something bad happened it would have been hard to take her from her place. That Phil knew well.

 

“She's a tough woman Tony, like she was a tough soldier and agent, but she's good at what she does. As long as she's not handling subs, there is nothing we can do, only keep an eye on her.”

 

This time was Tony lost in thoughts for a long time. His huge and lost chocolate eyes were looking around the room like they never saw the place.

 

“She hates Clint. For some reasons she does. Don't let her hurt Clint or I'll have to call the President and have her humiliated and publicly punished on the square in front of the White House. And you know I can do that, Phil. The President's son is a sub, his wife is the sweetest sub I ever met, and both of them are brilliant minds, and they worked with me on more than one project.”

 

Tony had done amazing things for working sub's rights. He had many enemies, that was true, but his mind, his name and his projects had made him powerful friends too. Tony had charisma and charm, people loved him, and that made him a lot stronger than his enemies.

 

“I know Tony, but I won't let her hurt Clint at all. If she tries you won't have time to call the President, she'd die sooner than that.”

 

Tony kissed him. A quick perk on his lips, a gesture of friendship and trust that both Phil and Clint learned to accept early in their strange relationship.

 

“That would probably piss off Pirate Fury... I'd like to see his face. And I really like that you are not afraid to go against other Doms for Clint. He deserves a Dom with his balls.”

 

They reached the kitchen where Clint was busy making dinner. The scent in the air was heavenly and suddenly Tony remembered the sad sandwich he had in his office while Rhodey was tearing him a new one because he couldn't believe his best friend was so stubborn and selfish he really didn't want to create weapons for the army anymore. Tony shivered unconsciously remembering the cold words his oldest friends used.

 

“You OK there, Tony?” Clint was still holding the glass of soda he had meant to give Tony, but the other sub didn't even realize he was doing that.

 

Tony looked at the glass surprised to see it, then at Clint and Phil and he swallowed. He knew he could make up an excuse and keep the truth for himself, but he really didn't want to lie to his chosen family.

 

“Just a normal day in my life. The army unleashed Rhodey on me again because of the weapons, and he was... well he was particularly harsh in his demands.”

 

Phil froze. The glass he was holding raised midair and forgotten. “Are you really OK?” Phil knew how much Tony cared for the Colonel, but he really wasn't sure the man deserved that kind of affection.

 

“I will be. I just have to avoid his calls for the next few days, and things will be back to normal. Or at least I hope.” Phil simply nodded and kept his eyes on Clint, silently talking to him while Tony was laying the table.

 

Later that night, while Clint and Tony curled up together on the couch, a tight ball of perfectly happy subs watching Star Trek Into Darkness, Phil slipped in his study, ready to vent some of his bottled up rage.

 

***

 

Colonel Rhodes was woken up by a video call. The code used was one that only SHIELD could have, and a man wondered for a moment what could have happened to have the organization calling him.

 

Rhodes loved the army, but it wasn't a mystery that he would have sold his mother for the opportunity to work with SHIELD.

 

He answered the call, almost certain to see Fury or Hill on the screen. Who he really wasn't expecting to see was agent Coulson, still perfectly dressed in one of his legendary suits.

 

“Agent Coulson, Sir. This is a surprise. Did something happen?”

 

Coulson looked like he really wasn't impressed with the Colonel, and the other man felt like a private in front of a superior all over again.

 

“That's sad, Colonel. A man would hope that a high ranked member of the US Army would at least expect a call after he harassed an uncollared sub, trying to coerce him into doing something he clearly doesn't agree with. I'd talk to your superiors, Colonel, if I thought even for a moment that you weren't following their orders, but that doesn't mean that I'm happy with what you did, at all.”

 

Rhodes understood perfectly why Coulson was so feared.

 

“Sir... I don't know what Tony told you, but he can be dramatic when he....”

 

Coulson hissed. A sound that was low and guttural, feral almost. A sound that no human should have been allowed to make.

 

“Be careful Colonel. You already are not one of my favorite people right now. Don't make things worse for yourself by blaming Tony for your actions.”

 

A part of Rhodey was glad that Tony found someone like agent Coulson to watch his back, but the military man inside him realized that now it was going to be even harder to make Tony see that it was better for everyone if he simply gave up and begun to make weapons again.

 

“Now listen to me carefully, Colonel. You call Mr. Stark again to talk about his decision, you bother or upset him again trying to force his hand into doing what you or your superiors think he should do, and I'll make sure that your name will arrive straight to the eras of friends I still have in the Forces. Men who still think that a sub is a creature to care for and protect and who won't be happy to know you don't agree with them. Am I clear?”

 

Rhodes only had the time to agree before call was ended and all he could see was the lightly bright screen with the SHIELD logo mocking him. He was in trouble, and he was smart enough to know.

 

When Phil came back in the living room he found Clint half asleep, but still conscious enough to ask him if things went well. Phil only nodded at that, and Clint looked happy enough with that kind of answer. Tony was fast asleep, and for a moment Phil thought that the two subs looked so peaceful it was almost a sin to move them to the bedroom.

 

“He's going to stay with us tonight right?” Phil smiled knowing all too well that Clint only asked proforma. Together Clint and Phil took a – surprisingly – still asleep Tony into their bed, and for once night no one had nightmares.

 

 


	6. Chapter 6

V

 

General Scott was in one of the most secret places the US Army owned. A place that only the President and other 3 people knew about, and he wasn't happy.

 

“You have to complete those weapons. The President is tired of waiting.”

 

The scientist who was standing in front of him looked old enough to know his way around weapons and science, and the military ways, but no matter his age and experience, he was shivering. This wasn't the first time they were having the same argument, and the man and his team weren't any closer to find a solution. They were stuck on a complicated algorithm that no one was able to solve. Without it, they couldn't find the way to use the energy they were dealing with, without risking to destroy the whole world, and possibly the different dimensions.

 

“Sir, as I said last time, it would be easier if we could have access to more information... or if Mr. Stark could be convinced to help us.”

 

The man in uniform shuddered with rage, “Are you really telling me that only a sub can solve the problem? Are you really telling me that he's smarter than a bunch of high payed Doms?”

 

Here it was; another idiot believing that Doms were smarter only because of their status. The scientist could only bite his tongue before he got in trouble with the man who was signing his pay check.

 

“It seems so, General. After all, we are talking about a man who won his first Nobel prize when he was only twenty years old.” General Scott wasn't happy with what he was hearing.

 

“Stark won't come here. I won't risk this information with an uncollared sub. You better solve whatever problem you are having before HYDRA beats us again, and this time it will be on your shoulders. Whatever is going to happen, I'll blame you and your team.”

 

The older man was now pissed. “The only reason the US Army was able to defeat HYDRA last time was because they had 'Captain America'. And we can't forget that the little information we had about the tesseract was what Howard Stark was able to get from studying the artifact. Without Tony Stark – who is said to have a mind even bigger than his father's – we don't have any chance of finding a solution.”

 

Scott was fuming. “Is this your last word, doctor?”

 

“This is everything I can give you. And like me, any other scientist you could put in charge of this project without Mr. Stark. That's my last word.”

 

***

 

The Captain had been locked in his office for hours before he came out, looking for his right hand.

 

“Soldier, we need Stark and we need to take him now. It's better for your little mole to be prepared. I plan to go and take him in a very little time now.”

 

The Soldier knew from the tone of the other man that something happened, and it wasn't good.

 

“What happened? You weren't so stressed up since last time you discovered they were using the Red Skull's notes to make weapons.”

 

The Captain remembered that moment like it had happened only days ago, and not actually years ago.

 

“They are still doing that, but they are also close to discovering how to use the cube at its full potential. We need Stark, because if they actually realize that Howard had found a way to really recreate the tesseract power, they are going to look for the notes. They don't know about me and him, only you know Soldier, so they can't suspect I have those notes, but they'll go for his son. We need to put our hands on him first.”

 

“I heard that he's even more brilliant than his father.”

 

For a moment, the Captain looked hurt by those words, like he still felt the need to protect and defend his former lover even if he had been a Dom too.

 

“I don't even know how that could be possible, but I heard the same.” Both men knew that there was a huge possibility that Tony Stark could find the solution to the problem even without Howard's notes. They had little time now and couldn't lose the chance to put their hands on the genius before their enemies.

 

***

 

Tony was working on some new arrows for Clint when JARVIS activated the code he'd created to be alerted when unauthorized people were too close to the lab.

 

When the genius saw the Black Widow looking around, faking an innocence that she probably lost even before she was born, he wished that Phil was there with him. He really wasn't comfortable around the woman. There was something wrong with her, and he still couldn't figure out what it was, plus she was working for SHIELD now, and that and her attitude made her too similar to Maria Hill in Tony's mind.

 

“What can I do for you, Red?” He tried not to be too harsh in his words; for same strange reason it looked like Clint liked her a bit, maybe because of her background, and he wanted to try to get along with her as much as possible.

 

“Stop calling me that Stark. You have an appointment with the director today, and we don't want you to be late, right?”

 

Tony could almost tell that there was something the woman was hiding, but he couldn't say what. He never could with Natasha after all, so he only answered her with what he knew for sure.

 

“Sorry Red, I'm busy now, as you can see. And my appointment with Fury isn't before five. I'll come with you in about three hours. Because I know you won't leave me alone, you can sit somewhere and wait, but you probably better not to touch anything, it could explode on your pretty face.”

 

Tony was back to work before Natasha could answer or hope to use her Domme voice with him. Too bad that the woman didn't even understand that after a life spent with Howard Stark that voice wasn't going to work with him.

 

After 3 and a half hours, Tony closed the blueprint he was working with, satisfied of what he created, and decided to talk to Phil as soon as possible about the possibility to to change Clint's old arrows with the new ones – he needed the Phil's consent before he could do anything. Now he was ready to follow the Widow. Maybe she learned that next time Fury wanted something from Tony, she wasn't the right woman for the job.

 

***

 

The Captain woke up with a scream; nothing new for him, but this time it wasn't because of a usual nightmare, but due to a new one. He had dreamt about a man, a man he'd never met, a man who was nothing for him but a tool, and still he dreamed of him crying and scared, calling for his Dom, and all the Captain could feel was the need to reach and protect him, and he didn't understand why.

 

He got up and went to the gym to punch a sack or possibly four. He needed to vent and try to understand the real meaning of his dream. He knew in many ways he had loved Howard. He had cared for him, he had been grateful when that beautiful and powerful man decided to look at him and show him what it really meant to be a Dom, and he never forgot their last night together. It always had been one of his greatest regrets not being able to talk to him, not being able to explain what happened to him, and why. But he never had fell in love with him. And now he dreamed about a sub, and not like in the past, this time the sub had a face, he wasn't someone lost in the past and too far away from him. No, he dreamed about a sub he was going to meet soon, connected to someone of his past, a sub who still hadn't met his own Dom, and that confused and scared The Captain.

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thi chapter is going to deal with abuse of power and avery bad Dom. Violence. If this can triggr you please don't read

VI

 

“Are you sure you really have to go alone? Tony and I could come with you...”

 

Phil smiled at his sub with a fondness that not many people knew he possessed. 

 

“No, baby bird, Tony has a meeting with Marcus, and I need to know you are going to be with him, and watch his back. I already hate enough that I can't be there. Plus this meeting is for higher levels of clearance, and I can't allow you there.”

 

Clint knew that Phil was right about everything. He had to make sure that Tony felt safe, and that he couldn't be allowed between Doms with more than a level 7 clearance. But he still hated to be parted from Phil. 

 

*** 

 

Marcus Fury wasn't a happy man; he had a meeting with Stark, and that alone could have been a good reason, for any lesser man, not to even leave the bed; and now he had to be the one deleting the meeting because he had got a phone call that demanded his presence in another location. Someone was trying to go behind SHIELD's back, and studying the tesseract alone, and Nick couldn't allow that to happen. 

 

“You shouldn't be so upset because of that sub.” 

 

“Maria, that sub is one of the most brilliant minds ever born. He's a pain in the ass, he's impossible to stand for more than two minutes, but he's also our only hope against HYDRA.” 

 

Maria would have loved to argue on that. She knew that there were other people working on better weapons than what Stark ever created, they were working on a technology that was going to change everything that modern science could be, but she kept her silence. She wasn't even listening to Fury anymore. All she could see in Tony Stark was a sub, and untrained one, and that meant he was nothing in her eyes. 

 

“And Phil is off in LA today, so I can't even having him dealing with Stark.”

 

Maria saw her opportunity. 

 

“I can deal with him. You'll have whatever you want from him on your table when you come back.” 

 

Fury was worried now. He knew all too well what Maria thought about subs, and Tony Stark wasn't a normal one. 

 

“Maria, don't push him. If you can actually deal with him, and having him seeing reason, do that, but don't push him. We really can't risk to lose him. I'm not even sure what Phil would do in that situation.”

 

Hill looked too sure of herself. 

 

“He's going to do what every agent is supposed to do, he'll be a professional, and actually glad he got rid of a burden like Stark. He already has his hands full with Barton after all.”

 

Listening to her words, Fury was almost tempted to tell her off and simply deal with Stark another day, but they couldn't waste any time if they wanted to defeat HYDRA, and their enemies were getting stronger and stronger every day. 

 

“I know well he's a professional. I wouldn't have made him my second in command if he wasn't. But you really shouldn't underestimate the power of the bond he shares with Barton, or the fondness he has for Stark.”

 

Once again Maria Hill really didn't understand what Fury was trying to show her.

 

*** 

 

Phil was fuming. Clint had tried to call him at least four times, and he couldn't answer his phone because of the damn meeting where only Jasper looked as pissed off as he was. It had been a huge waste of time. Doms sat around a table, trying to find a solution for locating HYDRA bases, when it was clear that probably on the technology Tony Stark was working on could have done the job. 

 

And now, after hours spent talking about nothing, he had found out that Clint was going to be publicly punished for disrespecting Maria Hill, and Jasper's sub was going throw the same path as Clint. 

 

Tony had called him almost hysteric with rage and fear. The mad had been so insistent that had used JARVIS to hacker their system, and forced the meeting to a stop just to talk to Phil. 

 

Tony was almost screaming on the phone, telling Phil that it was all a set up, that Hill had orchestrated everything to finally have a reason and a possibility to humiliate Clint.

 

Listening to Tony she did everything in her power to force Phil's collared sub to snap. If that was true, and Phil didn't have any doubt that Tony was telling him the truth, and he could find the proof, he was going to file a complain against Maria Hill, so long that not even all her friends and protectors could save her this time. 

 

But for now Phil had more important things to care about, like for example to make sure he could survive watching his sub punished by other hands. It was dirty, something that you simply don't do to a collared sub, but Phil was stuck in Los Angeles, and unable to come back in New York in time. 

 

Apparently Maria Hill had demanded for the punishment to be immediate.

 

A private room with video and audio connection had already been prepared for Phil and Jasper. That was all they could do, to watch their bonded mate suffer for something that still wasn't clear in their minds. 

 

“She can't do this, Phil. She has no right to demand to punish them without us there. We are not in the Middle Ages anymore.” 

 

Jasper was furious and restless – exactly like Phil was. 

 

“She convinced Fury otherwise, Jasper, and if he agreed, there is nothing we can do to stop this madness, even if you are right.”

 

“But what the hell happened, Phil? What happened to create all this mess?”

 

Phil was still thinking about Tony's call. The genius told him that Clint had punched Maria in the face. He was furious at Clint for putting himself in that situation, but above all he was furious at Hill and her plots, and at himself because he hadn't been there. 

 

“I know what Clint did, Jasper, but I have no idea why Melinda is in trouble too.”

 

“Does he deserves it, Phil? Just tell me the truth.” 

 

“He attacked a superior and a Domme in front of everyone apparently, so yes, he deserves to be punished.”

 

Jasper was speechless. “Fuck me, Phil. You know that Clint is too smart for that. What the fuck did she do to push him to that? You know this is the only question you have to ask to yourself.”

 

Phil knew well, bu he couldn't allow his sub to go around punching Doms just because they pushed his buttons. It was too risky. If someone was starting to doubt his ownership over Clint, the Army, because sadly SHIELD was still under their control in that kind of matters, could ask for proof that Phil could handle his sub. Because of the bond, no one could take Clint from him, but they both could have been sent into a military base for a time of probation, away from everything and everyone, even for months, and that would have been a disaster for their and Tony's stability. 

 

“I know, Jasper, and I know we are screwed.” Jasper knew what Phil was talking about, and hated that almost as much as he hated Maria Hill. 

 

“If you want, I can try to find out what Melinda did. I can ask JARVIS.” 

 

Jasper shook his head and sat close to his friend, preparing himself for what was going to happen. “It's OK Phil, I want to hear that from her. Right now I just want this to be over as soon as possible.” 

 

The two men fell silent and waited. 

 

*** 

 

Tony was out of his mind with worry. He was powerless in front of the situation and he knew it, even calling the President now was going to be useless. The only thing that mattered in the eyes of Fury, and probably the whole of SHIELD, was that two subs physically assaulted a Domme. That alone should have raised doubts about the Domme, in Tony's mind, but his opinion wasn't important. The only thing he could do was watch a bitch hurt two bonded subs without the possibility of being able to stop her in any way. 

 

“I'm sorry... it's all my fault. Maybe if I talk to Fury... if I accept...” 

 

“Tony!”

 

Clint's voice was so strong that for a moment Tony froze. “It's not your fault. She wanted me in this situation for a long time now and I fell in her trap. It's my fault I reacted, and her fault for using a dirty trick, but not your fault. Don't let them to manipulate you, Tony. I'm going to take my punishment, and never doubt that I'd do everything in the same way if I could go back in time, don't let my public humiliation be for nothing Tony, please.”

 

Tony hugged the other sub. That was all the comfort he could give him, and he was going to be by his side. When he felt someone else trying shyly to hug them, Tony realized that Melinda too needed comfort and a human touch, so he tried not to panic and allowed her to be that close to him and Clint. 

 

“You shouldn't be there, Tony. You shouldn't watch.” Clint's voice was so small that for a moment Tony couldn't recognize the strong archer, but only see the unsure boy that he had been before he met Phil. He wasn't Phil, but for sure he wasn't going to leave Clint alone now.

 

“I won't leave you, both of you, alone. I'll stay and I promise you that for what she did, she's going to pay one way or another.”

 

Clint was very glad that Tony was a friend and not one of their enemies when he was in his full 'CEO and owner of one of the most important industry in the world' mode, and right now he could swear that Tony''s mind was spinning – looking for a plan to make Hill pay. 

 

*** 

 

All the HQ knew what had happened, and every single agent and member of the staff who could leave work was going to be present. In the long years he serve his Country as a Ranger first and Agent later, Phil Coulson had become a legend, and no one, not even the more conservative Doms were OK with his bonded sub being punished without his presence there. 

 

Maria Hill was a powerful woman, with powerful friends and a good name in the field, but she never gained the respect that people had for Phil. No one was OK with what Clint did of course, but no one was going to stand by Maria's side either, and everyone was going to show her that. 

 

*** 

 

When Nick Fury arrived at the auditorium where the punishment was going to happen, he wasn't surprised that the place was already full, and more people were still arriving. 

 

He had a bad feeling about all of that. He knew he had to keep Maria on his side as much as possible, close to his eye so that he could look over what she was planning, but in the same time he knew that sacrificing Phil's sub for that could be the worst mistake of his life. He only wished he could have been there to stop everything before things went to hell. 

 

His eye fell on Tony Stark, on the front row, his eyes as cold as ice, probably the same gaze he used everyday with his Board members, and that shocked him. He'd never thought that the sub had the guts to watch a punishment, and he realized it was a bad mistake when he underestimated Stark and his love for Clint. 

 

Another thing that surprised him was to look at every Dom in the room, and realize that them all were watching Hill, who still was by his side, like she was the one in the wrong, and not the two sub dressed only in long nightgowns that soon were going to be dropped, showing that they were going to take their punishment in the nude. Something that Fury really was starting to regret he agreed with. Even if the Army was used to punishing subs in the nude, it was something that had never been allowed inside SHIELD, not with bonded ones at least. Maria had threatened to take the case in front of the high ranks of the US Army if he didn't agree with her ways, and Fury simply couldn't let that happen. 

 

*** 

 

Clint and Melinda were standing in the middle of the huge room, on stage, like they were going to perform for the whole of SHIELD and they were fighting the need to beg for their Doms. They were both capable agents, and they weren't going to break and give Hill the satisfaction to see them so distressed. They weren't going to give SHIELD any more reason to think that that kind of job wasn't mean for subs. 

 

Clint met Tony's eyes, and tried to smile. The genius could only answer with a little wink, and that was all, but it was enough for them to feel close to each other. 

 

He knew that Phil was watching him, and hate to know how bad he disappointed his Dom. He had known better than letting his temper to raise, he had known better than to answer to provocations. He messed up and made a huge mistake, but he wasn't going to apologize. He had been wrong, but his reasons had been right, and he wasn't going to bend or break for Hill. Only Phil had the right to demand that from him. 

 

*** 

 

“She's going to tear them apart, Phil, I saw her punishing uncollared subs and she's merciless. She always held a grudge against Clint, for whatever reason, and she hates Melinda because on the field she's better than a lot of Doms. She's fucking going to tear them apart and we are stuck on the other side of the Country and can't do anything to stop her.”

 

Phil knew that Jasper was right, but he didn't have time to answer or try to calm down his friend, because he almost chocked with shock and disgust when the cameras in the auditorium showed Clint and Melinda wearing only a gown. 

 

“They... they are naked under that, right? Fury is allowing that bitch to punish our bonded subs in the _nude_? He knows you don't do that to collared subs. He knows that once the bond is completed only the Dom can see a sub naked, and only with the Dom's permission, another can assist to a scene where the sub is naked. He's breaking all the rules for Hill...” 

 

Phil's body was quivering with rage. He couldn't believe what he was looking at. To punish a naked sub meant that every inch of the exposed body could have been hit. Everything that wasn't a vital point could have been a target. Fury was basically allowing his lover to mark their subs, and the man was going to regret that. For now Phil could only hope that Hill was too focused on finally showing her rank over Clint and Melinda to really realize the kind of power Fury gave her. 

 

*** 

 

When the two subs took off their gown waiting for two agents, both subs themselves, to tie them to the cross the whole auditorium got suddenly silent. No one had really believed that Clint and Melissa really were naked, and now that they could see, them all were shocked. Some of the collared subs hid their faces in the lap of their Doms, and the Doms themselves were shocked to silence. 

 

The only thing that Melinda and Clint were wearing was the collar their Doms gave them, and that was probably the only thing keeping them from crashing. 

 

“The punishment will be of 50 strikes with the whip because Specialist Clint Barton and Agent Melinda May verbally and physically attacked Deputy Maria Hill, their superior and Domme.” 

 

That was all that was told before the punishment begun.

 

*** 

 

Clint was shivering, his eyes went from Tony, to Melinda, to the cameras he knew were showing everything to Phil, to Maria Hill. He has seen too many Doms abusing subs not to realize what she was going to do. 

 

He had always known that Maria hates subs, but this time he could see was disgust in her dead eyes. It was like Hill had lost her soul and humanity, and all that was left was an empty shell ready to destroy everything she couldn't claim. 

 

Every strike that touched Clint's skin was agony for Tony too, and the genius could tell that Clint was already going to break. He was trying so hard to choke his own screams but the whip, unleashed mercilessly on his back and legs and ass, was biting into Clint's flesh so deeply that Clint knew he was already bleeding, even if no more than ten strikes were given yet. 

 

Clint was used to harsh training, both when he was a merc and after he joined SHIELD, but what Maria was doing was everything that a real Dom shouldn't ever do. 

 

The sub fought for as long as possible, but after a while he begun to scream, he had to. While his mind was still functioning, and nor lost in a hell of pain and screams, he realized that Melinda couldn't survive to something like that, to something that was breaking him, no matter how terrible the men he had worked for had been, and no matter how many times they had beaten him an inch from his death just to prove a point. He was almost tempted to retreat in the shelter inside his mind he had used when he was a child, and that had been empty since he bonded with Phil, but without his Dom there, Clint didn't know how deep he could go, and if he could have been able to come back alone. Melinda didn't have any chance. 

 

*** 

 

Tony was horrified. His mind was screaming at him that something was deeply wrong. His eyes were focused on Hill, but she couldn't find anything out of place with her, she was being her usual bitch. 

 

Then in the moment his eyes fell on Clint's blood he realized that that was it. There was too much blood. Hill wasn't so skilled with a whip, and suddenly his father's voice erupted in his mind and Tony had to fight panic and nausea, his normal reaction to Howard. 

 

“ _Some Doms will use forged whip, because they need it to feel powerful. But with me, boy, you'll never get any of that. I can make you scream and beg without any trick.”_

 

Tony jumped from his chair like a spring. So fast that not even Fury, who was sat by his side, could stop him. He was on Hill before anyone could move, screaming curses like a sailor. 

 

*** 

 

Phil and Jasper were watching the scene in front of them totally speechless. The cameras were showing Tony's rage, and his need to really hurt Maria, even if that could put him in a terrible situation. 

 

“Is he crazy? Does he want to join Melinda and Clint on the cross... or worse?” 

 

Phil was trying to understand Tony's action, and wasn't paying much attention to Jasper. When all the pieces of the puzzle joined together he wanted to kick himself because he realized too late what Tony saw already. 

 

“The blood. Jasper there is too much blood. Hill is using...” Phil couldn't finish the sentence, but Jasper reached Phil's own conclusion, and he was disgusted by that. 

 

*** 

 

“You bitch. You pathetic excuse of a Domme...” 

 

Tony was screaming in rage and disgust. He was between Hill and Clint now, and shielding the other sub with his whole body. He was ready to fight Hill and everyone in the room, if that was going to stop the madness. 

 

The Black Widow was moving with the grace of a trained killer, read to take down Stark at Fury's order, but even if she loathed Stark, she was secretly happy that the man was giving Clint a little time to try to recover at least. For some strange reason she liked Clint a bit, and didn't like to see him hurt. 

 

“Stark, I'll have you skinned alive in front of the whole US. How dare you...”

 

“You won't do anything to me. You won't do anything to anyone else for a long time you bastard. I'll have you stripped of your position and every assignment you are covering now, Hill. You dog, you are using an iron cored whip, an illegal tool...” 

 

At those words all hell broke free in the auditorium. The Doms were screaming, demanding proves of what Stark was claiming and Hill's head if that was the truth. Hill was threatening Tony with screams so loud that the windows were shaking. Subs were helping Melinda and Clint; only Fury, shooting the ceiling, was able to bring back the silence in the room. 

 

The Director moved toward Maria and took the whip from her hand. His eye was cold as ice, and even Stark had to shut up and simply watch what the man was going to do. 

 

The whip looked as a normal one, but something in the weight was off. Fury begun to untangle the strips of leather that formed to body of the whip and the breath was stolen by his lungs when a core of metal was revealed. 

 

His reaction was violent and unexpected. He used the ruined whip on Maria, striking her on the face, tearing a scream of pure agony from her throat while her blood stained Tony's suit. 

 

“Maria Hill, as Director of SHIELD I condemn you to be put under arrest. You are stripped of your rank and position inside this organization, and you are going to face punishment in the hands of Agent's Barton's Dom. He'll be free to decide what to do with your life. If he'll decide to spare you, you won't cover any position in the agency or the Army anymore and you'll be forbidden to ever again contact any sub. And God save you from Coulson's rage.”

 

Maria was speechless, she knew she had overstepped her position, but her hate blinded her enough to make her believe that Fury and her other protectors were going to allow her to finally show Barton his place. 

 

“Take Barton to medical, now. Stark, you can go with him.” Two doctors rushed to Clint's side and begun to check his vitals, and Tony didn't waste any time answering Fury that he would have gone with Clint even without his permission. 

 

“Someone send the fastest transportation to take Coulson and Sitwel back here.” 

 

“Agent May is in shock.” Tony was by her side, he was holding the shivering woman now covered with his suit jacket, in his arms, talking gently to her and no one would have recognized in the man taking so good care of another human being, the billionaire that everyone thought they knew so well. 

 

Fury cursing loudly Hill and her stupidity was the last thing Tony could hear walking away to follow Clint in medical. 

 


	8. Chapter 8

VII

 

Phil was running through the long and sterile corridors in the medical bay. The jet that Fury had sent for them had taken Jasper and himself back to NY in almost no time at all, but for Phil it had been the longest travel ever.

 

Tony was awake, gently holding his hand. The blond sub was sleeping, but the pain was still written all over his body posture and the little bit of his face that Phil could see from the door.

 

Tony jumped when Phil put a hand on his shoulder, alerting the other sub that he'd finally arrived.

 

“Don't be mad at him. It was my fault, he only tried to defend me. You can be mad at me, but not at him. You are not allowed to be mad at Clint. You can't...”

 

Tony was heartbroken and scared of Phil like he had been in the beginning, when Phil was introduced to him for the first time. And Phil suddenly realized that the genius needed him now almost as much as Clint.

 

“I'm not mad, Tony...”

 

The sub didn't let him finish, “You are. Your shoulders are tense, your hands are shaking, and you probably had them in fists for the whole time you traveled back here. You are mad... please don't be mad at him.”

 

Phil stared at Tony for a long time, cursing Howard Stark for teaching him so well how to read body language. But Phil really wasn't mad at Clint or Tony – he was furious at Hill and Fury – but for the moment the most important thing he had to do was to take care of his two subs, even if Tony wasn't technically his.

 

The older man opened his arms in a gentle invitation, and after a few moments of stillness Tony decided to risk everything and give Phil his trust even if he he was obviously mad. Phil's hug was safe and warm, and some tension left Tony for the first time in the day.

 

“I'm not mad at Clint or at you. You have to trust my word, Tony. I'd never raise a hand in rage against my sub or against someone under my care.”

 

Tony only nodded, accepting his words as true, without even spending a moment to think about his reaction. It was the first time in his life he trusted a Dom so much. Maybe Phil really was able to make miracles happen.

 

“They put him to sleep with a small dose of drugs. I checked, he won't have any side effects. They had to... to stitch him back together...” Tony voice was shaking, but he swallowed and kept talking. “Fury wanted to wait for you, but the doctors told him that that was stupid. The sooner Clint was stitched up, the sooner he could begin to heal. So now he's asleep and full of stitches.”

 

Phil wanted to destroy something, he wanted blood, and wanted it now. But he also knew he had to wait to go and see Hill – now would only have made him weaker. Rage never was a good advisor, and even if he wanted revenge, he couldn't allow himself to become a monster like Hill had been.

 

“I'll go talk to the doctors. When I'm back I want to see the other bed put close to Clint's and you in it. Am I clear, Tony?”

 

“I... I can call Happy, and be back to the tower... you two need...”

 

“On the bed Tony, and close to me and Clint. Am I clear boy?” Tony nodded and begun to move the other bed while Phil left the room looking for a doctor, but first he found a spider.

 

“You shouldn't leave your sub with Stark, Sir. He caused this mess.”

 

Natasha's voice was cold as her eyes. She probably was one of the most deadlier assassin in the world, but Phil hid more under his suit that he let other people see, and right now he didn't have time to deal with more shit.

 

“I didn't see you jump on a Domme with a forged whip, Widow, even if you should been trained to recognize one when you see it. When Clint wakes up he'll tell me exactly what happened. For now I only know that Tony Stark saved my collared and bonded sub.”

 

If he had been more focused he probably could have seen the flash of hurt and guilt in Natasha's eyes, or how fast she almost run away, but he really didn't have time for that.

 

***

 

The Soldier was horrified. He did many things in the years, things that would have made strong men crawl behind couches looking for shelter, but he never, _never_ used blind violence against subs.

 

When he had had another name, he had fought to stop bullies and other mean people from abusing subs, and in his youth that had been a common thing. Subs were only properties in the 30s and 40s after all, but that never stopped him from fighting for them and protect them.

 

He had hoped to meet his sub soon, but then the war happened, and with that all the betrayals and lies, and the hurtful decision to hide his past behind a mask that covered his mouth and let only his eyes shine with malice and cruelty.

 

He had lost hope after that. After the first time his robotic arm had killed a man with easiness, after the first time he realized how strong he really was now, he thought that probably it had been better that he didn't find his sub after all. And then, when he wasn't expecting anything anymore and his only wish in life was to serve The Captain and fight by his side against their enemies, he had found her.

 

She had been everything that a sub in his youth wouldn't have been. She had been fierce and powerful, and merciless. She had been so well trained that she had fought him. She had fought him and The Captain in truth, and even when the bond had forced her on her knees, she was still fighting, and that was perfect, that was everything the Soldier had always wanted without even knowing that.

 

And now, his sub was almost crying on the secure phone, and he really wanted to break and destroy things, and possibly people too. He had gone looking for The Captain as soon as the call was ended.

 

***

 

The Captain had been in his study as it often happened lately. He had realized that something was wrong as soon as he saw his friend's face.

 

“What the hell happened?”

 

“There was an accident at SHIELD. Something that's going to disgust you, but that could be used in our advantage... when I'll finish destroying people and things of course.”

 

When the Soldier finished his story, The Captain was pale as a ghost.

 

“She could have done something good for us, in this mess. Now they'll have to do anything possible to keep Coulson from leaving them. Fury has lost his advantage. He needs his second in command, and he needs to make sure he still has his loyalty, and he won't be able to focus on his war against us as he did until now. He'll be too busy making sure than Coulson is not going to stab him in the back...”

 

“Phil Coulson is an honorable man, he would never...”

 

“Phil Coulson is a Dom, and his sub was abused and humiliated by people he had called friends. He will do everything to make sure that Clint Barton is safe, and if that means leaving SHIELD behind, he will, and you know that.”

 

“You know that I want Phil Coulson on our side. Maybe is time for us to meet...”

 

The Soldier wasn't surprised, but he was still worried. He didn't think it was time yet for The Captain to let anyone else to know who he really was. So he came out with a plan that could have been brilliant or a disaster.

 

“If you want him I suggest you to work on his sub. He's very close to Stark it seems. When you take the little shit, make sure to take the Hawk too, and work from there.”

 

The Captain was shocked for a moment. “Are you really suggesting for me to kidnap a sub to gain his Dom's loyalty? How does that makes any sense to you?”

 

The Soldier smirked, showing his perfect white teeth. “Do I ever let you down with one of my plans? Trust me, take the bird and let Coulson follow the lead.”

 

The Captain had to admit that the Soldier's plans always had the tendency to work, no matter how strange or crazy they sounded.

 

“I'll keep that in mind, Soldier. But for now, you have to meet our agents, and I have a meeting with our scientists. As soon as your little mole will be able to hack their system, we'll attack...”

 

***

 

Clint was allowed to leave medical after two days. Two day in which Phil had been devoted to his needs and his person, never leaving his side for more than a few minutes and only when he really couldn't help it.

 

Tony was missing in action during the day; something about the board members, meetings, inventions to shake up the markets, and press conferences took almost all of his time, but the genius never failed to show in the room when both Clint and Phil were ready to sleep and gently cuddled up with them.

 

The genius was strangely quiet, and that worried Clint, but he didn't ask. He knew that Tony needed his space, and he was going to be the one to look for Clint when he's ready.

 

Now they were back at the tower, and Phil had ordered both of them in bed to rest but they ended up on the couch; the two subs were cozily watching TV in the common room when Phil had left for SHIELD HQ.

 

Clint was worried. He knew that Phil was going to ask what had really happened once he was back, and he wasn't so sure his Dom was going to punish him, hard, for his actions.

 

***

 

Fury was waiting for Phil and Jasper to show up in his office. Even if Melinda hadn't been touched she had been in severe shock when Jasper came back, and the Director was sure the Dom had something to tell him. But actually, what really was worrying Nick Fury was Phil's reaction.

 

Phil was as controlled as always – the perfect agent, the perfect professional – but his eyes were cold, and his body language was clearly telling everyone that he was ready to see blood, and he really didn't care much about who’s blood it was. He was standing by Fury's desk, and nothing in his posture was indicating that he wasn't going to kill the man who had been his friend for so long.

 

It was a game of power, the balance had been broken, the roles weren't clear anymore. Who was in advantage, and who was in the weaker place? Fury had thought he knew the answer, and now he wasn't sure anymore. Now all he knew was that one of his best men was ready to kill, and that was never a good thing.

 

Fury took a file from his briefcase and gave it to the too quiet mam. It was a secreted file of course, and Phil could say it was full of shit. The logo of the Army was clear on the yellow folder. Maria Hill's file, the truth about who she really was and what really happened in her life. And Phil realized he didn't care.

 

“Coulson, before you try to tear me a new one, I had to keep her as close to me as possible, and I couldn't let her suspect that I knew about her little side job, and her connections with General Scott. I needed a way to keep her nose out of business I want to stay inside this organization only; but I really didn't believe she was going to play so dirty, and that was a mistake I regret.”

 

Phil was readying the file in his hands only because he needed a distraction, anything to keep him from shooting Marcus between his eyes.

 

“Let me understand, Director. You regret you didn't realize a woman with Hill's past, who watched her father being killed by his collared sub, who also was an Agent with this organization, could have used everything in her power to humiliate and break two collared subs guilty of disrespecting her; but you don't regret giving her the power to do that while two Doms, who had had all the rights to be present, were stuck on the other side of the country?”

 

Phil's voice had been cold and professional, but his cold eyes were burning with so much rage that that alone could have set Fury's office on fire.

 

“I had to give that to her, Phil. This organization is more important than its members, and if for keeping her loyal enough not to put her nose into our labs I had to sacrifice protocols and a sub I would have done that, even if it was your sub and you are my right hand and second in command.”

 

Phil was disgusted. All he could think about was Clint's screams, and the stitches on his back, and Tony's fear he was going to hurt him even more.

 

“You should have told me about Hill and her real job, but you decided to keep that information for yourself, and sacrifice being a good Dom for a little play with the Army. If Mr Stark hadn't realized there was something wrong with the whip, you would have let her keep going, just to keep her into your game for a little bit more. You should be careful, Marcus, in your games, try not to lose your allies to your blindness.”

 

“What are you trying to say, Agent?”

 

“Just what I said, Director. And now, because I'm here for a reason, I want Maria Hill on a cross, nude, and I want to show her the damages you can do to a body with a cane.”

 

Fury was shocked. He had known Phil for years, and only once he had saw him killing someone with a cane, when they were still both in the army, and he never had thought to see him do something like that again.

 

“Just try not to kill her in front of the whole WSC. They've already begun to pull strings to have their men present.”

 

“I don't want her life, Director, I won't downgrade myself to her level. But when I'll be done with her she'll never abuse a sub in her life again.”

 

“Do you already know how many...” Phil almost zapped him with a single gaze.

 

“You are one of the few men alive who already saw me punish another Dom with a cane, Marcus. And this time is even more personal than it was- Don't you dare to ask me how many strikes I intend to give her. That's for me to know and for you all to find out when it will be the time.” Fury really hoped not to ever have Phil Coulson as an enemy, and sadly he wasn't sure that didn't already happen.

 

***

 

“Clint? Phil is back.” Tony was stroking Clint's hair; the archer had fallen asleep almost as soon as Phil had left, and Tony wasn't happy with the task of waking him up. As someone plagued by insomnia since he was a child, the genius hated to wake someone else up. And he hated even more that in a small time Phil was probably going to be mad all over again, and this time at them. He could only hope that Phil was going to punish them soon, and then forgive them, because even the thought of having Phil mad at them for a long time was something that Tony wasn't sure he could handle.

 

When Phil entered the living area, Tony could finally see what he had missed all day. The Dom was wearing black jeans and a black sweater, with black combat boots to complete the look and totally being the scary badass he truly was. The only difference was that this time he wasn't hiding that.

 

Clint and Tony both dropped on their knees near the couch, and Phil knew that the space between them was the one he needed to sit comfortably on the couch without the need to keep his legs cramped.

 

He sat, and took his time watching the two beautiful creatures at his feet. Clint's collar was beautifully shining at the sunlight that JARVIS was letting in from the huge window. Phil had given him a jewel-like collar since the first moment, to symbolize how precious the sub was for Phil. It was made with platinum and vibranium, simply unbreakable and light enough that Clint could wear it on the field without any problem.

 

On the other hand, Tony's naked neck was beautiful for a very different reason. It was heartbreaking, but in the same time it was the proof that there was still hope for Tony. There was still hope for him to find the other part of his soul. But for now both were under Phil's care, and Phil needed to know what really had happened.

 

“Tony?” The brunette startled and dropped his head even more, even if Phil's voice didn't sound mad.

 

“Tell me why you think that what happened was your fault.” Tony let go a sigh and begun to talk, his eyes still on the floor. What was a welcome surprise for the genius was Phil's hand in his hair, gently scratching at his scalp.

 

_Tony was working on his arrows. The project was clear in his mind, and the blue-prints were coming out perfect and flawless. Tony was working with the same easiness anyone else would have put into doing the dishes or any other normal chore in the house. And still, even if his work was so precise that would have needed a whole team of scientist in a normal situation, the genius' mind was thinking about other things too, like the meeting with Fury. He really didn't want to go into another argument with the man. He was tired of people asking him to change his mind, to make more weapons, and Tony was pretty sure that that was exactly what Fury was going to ask him. Tony sighed. He and men like him weren't different from the terrorists that held him captive for 3 months. They were just using other ways to try to bend him at their wishes._

 

_He followed the Black Widow to Fury's office when JARVIS told him than more than 3 hours had passed since the moment the woman tried to make him leave the lab. He didn't want to make her angrier than she already was, she had something that made Tony very uneasy. Usually he knew his reaction to Doms, with Natasha things were more complicated, but he didn't have time to think about that now. The closed door of Fury's office was in front of him, and Tony thought, only for a moment, that it was very strange that Fury's all-present secretary wasn't there as usual. He realized why only when it was too late._

 

_In the office, Maria Hill was waiting for Tony. The man saw the cruel smirk that was exchanged between Maria and Natasha and shivered._

 

“ _Stark. As you can see Director Fury is not here. You are going to behave yourself and do what I ask you, like I was him, because he let me in charge today.” She was smiling coldly, daring him to deny her so early, so that she could demand for a punishment, even if she didn't have any right._

 

_Before Tony could answer or simply react, the woman put a bunch of papers on the desk in front of him._

“ _I need an answer. I need to know what's wrong in these calculations and how to solve the problem.”_

 

_Tony looked at the papers. His eyes scanning the letters and numbers and symbols that were covering almost every inch of every page. He saw the mistakes. They were as clear as open wounds in the perfection of math and science, but he also saw other things that he hated even more than the mistakes themselves._

 

“ _And of course you are not going to tell me why you need my answer when it's clear that you already have people working on this. You of course are not going to tell me what you are going to use this stuff for, right?”_

 

_The truth was that Tony had grown up between weapons and algorithms and engineering formulas not to know what he was looking at. Whatever they were working with, they were looking for a way to stabilize elements used as fuel or main power source for highly destructive weapons, and Tony wasn't going to give Hill anything. Not even a single answer._

 

“ _You don't need to know what this is about, Stark. You only need to realize that I'm your superior and that what I ask you is an order.”_

 

_Hill began to talk to Natasha in fluent Arabic, and Tony wondered when the two women had gone totally stupid. They had his file, he was sure of that, and he was sure than in his file was well written that he could speak 16 languages fluently and that he never used and interpreter during his trips in Middle-East. She was telling Natasha that it was unacceptable that Tony refused to bend at their feet, and that that was the only place where he belonged._

 

_Tony knew his temper sometimes was his worst enemy, but he wasn't going to let Hill keep talking like that about him, and still expecting for him to give her the answers she so clearly needed. He answered Hill in a better Arabic than the one she was using that she he had no intention to work with the papers she gave him, if she wasn't going to agree in giving him at least a good reason to why he should have. Hill couldn't know that with his eidetic memory everything in the pages was stuck into his mind._

 

Tony begun to cough. His throat suddenly dry and only because of that Tony realized he had talked for a very long time.

 

“Clint, bring some water and fresh fruit. I have a feeling we are going to be here for a long time.”

 

Phil flinched when he saw how hard it still was for Clint to stand and walk and only relaxed again when his sub was back. The Dom took one of the bottles and gently helped him to drink almost half of that before he was ready too keep talking.

 

_Tony was back in his lab, working, when JARVIS fell suddenly into a strange silence. He had found the way to have the AI inside SHIELD, even if it wasn't in full force like in the tower, for him to go so silent meant something was very wrong._

 

_But only when the door of the lab opened, Tony realized how wrong things were. Maria was looking at him as he was a bug, and she was disgusted by his mere presence. She was holding his armor suitcase, like she could control him just because of that._

 

“ _Now Stark, you are going to understand once and for all why a sub should never speak to a Dom like you are used to do.”_

 

_Two men appeared behind her, both of them smirking._

 

“ _When I'm finished with you... they'll have their ways with you...”_

 

_Tony knew that the two men weren't SHIELD, and their body language and the hate he could read in their eyes told him they were Army men, ready to punish him for being stubborn._

 

_He knew that without his armor he didn't have any chance to stop whatever they wanted to do, but he also knew that his lab was full of things he could use to his advantage. At least for a bit._

 

“ _Kneel for me, sub. Now.”_

 

_Tony would have never done that, not for Hill. Not for anyone who wasn't his bonded Dom. Maria was coming closer, the hate in her eyes so deep that for a moment Tony was sure he could see Howard in her. Even if he knew he didn't have a chance against her, he stood his ground and snarled at the woman. He wasn't going to go down without fighting._

 

_She had made a mistake. She never believed much in science, and never realized how dangerous a lab could be. Tony was ready to use acid when the grate that was covered the vent on the roof fall and Clint jumped in front of him._

 

Tony went silent. He knew that Phil wanted to know what happened after that from Clint, and he really didn't want to talk anymore.

 

“Clint?” Phil was furious, but he knew he still had to hear the end of the story and Clint's role before he could let go all of his rage.

 

_Clint was training in the gym, he already had done more than four hours in the range with his bow, and now was sparring with Melinda. The woman was a hell of a fighter, and it was good to have her as a partner in the gym. Clint knew he still had a lot to learn from other agents with more experience, and he was ready and eager to learn._

 

_That Melinda was one of the other few subs allowed on the field was a bonus. The two of them had always been good friends, and always supported each other._

 

_The two of them were ready to go for another round on the ring when JARVIS called him from nowhere, and Clint was sure that something was very wrong if the AI was showing its presence._

 

“ _What's wrong, JARVIS? Is Tony okay?”_

 

“ _No, Mr Clint. He's actually in his lab, threatened by Maria Hill and other Doms. I'm not sure how long he can resist before...”_

 

_Clint didn't need any more explanation. He was already halfway to the vent when Melinda called after him._

 

“ _I'm going to see what's happening outside the lab. Be careful. If Hill is up to something we all need to be careful.”_

 

“ _You too, Melinda. Be careful, and please, don't endanger yourself.”_

 

_He crossed the vents as fast as he could, and he arrived over Tony's labs on time to hear Maria's hateful words. He jumped in front of Tony when the woman was close enough to actually try to grab his shoulder and push the genius on his knees. The archer could read in her eyes that she had every intention to hurt Tony and was going to enjoy doing it._

 

“ _What's going on here?”_

 

_Hill smirked with malice. “Here you are. I was wondering when you were going to appear, Barton. Now I finally have both of you where you belong. On my mercy.”_

 

_Clint's blood was boiling, he knew he had been caught in a trap, but couldn't understand what the trap was about._

 

“ _The only place where I belong, Hill, is with Phil, and if you believe even for second that you can change that, you are even more delusional than I thought.”_

 

“ _Phil is crazy, he let you blind him, he let you become the most important things in his life when he should have been loyal to SHIELD and only SHIELD. He's not here now, and when I'll finish with you, he'll finally see that you are worth nothing. You are only a whore, Barton, like every other sub, and Phil will finally see that he had lost his time with you.”_

 

“ _You don't even know what you are talking about, Hill. You have no idea what to share a bond really means, and I'm glad for that. You don't even deserve to have a bond. You'll never understand what Phil and I have...”_

 

“ _I understand that you spreading your legs for him made him weak. And a weak agent is an agent who can be easily killed on the field... Am I clear, Barton?”_

 

_Clint and Tony both gasped at the threat that was hidden behind Maria's world._

 

“ _Both of you, kneel, and show Coulson what worthless whores you two are...”_

 

_Before Maria could finish her sentence, Clint was on her, and the noise of the punch that almost broke her jaw was deafening. Melinda chose that moment to enter the lab. The three Doms that Maria had with her were taking a nap._

 

_All the subs in the room knew they were in deep trouble, and none of them regretted their decisions._

 

Phil was looking at Tony and Clint. Both of them were distressed and still ins shock for what had happened, and Hill's words.

 

And for the first time since that madness had began Phil almost regretted his decision not to kill Maria Hill for what she had done.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know many of you are waiting for the moment Tony will meet his Dom, please be patient a little bit longer. And please, be aware that this chapter could trigger with mention of child sexual abuse. Don't read if you think this can be too much. It's not graphic, but is still there, be careful.

VIII

 

Phil watched Tony and Clint, the two subs were having a good time together curled up on the couch, with the blueprints of Tony's last invention between them. The genius was talking about the clean energy that could have been used to power some of SHIELD facilities, and about the new material he was working on to protect the men working for the organization. Something stronger than kevlar but with more resistance, and without an expiration date, able to resist even pure energy.

 

Phil's heart broke a little bit more. No matter what other people thought of Tony, the man was always ready to help and make life easier for everyone. Even for people that didn't deserve it.

 

“Hey Phil, did you see Tony's new invention? It's absolutely mind-blowing.”

 

Tony grinned. “That's because you have a birdy-brain, Clint.”

 

Phil shook his head. It was good to see both of them so relaxed, after the mess with Hill. Clint had been able to get rid of the stitches the day before, and it looked like he was doing greatly. He was still on medical leave, and in truth Phil wasn't so sure he really wanted to see him again working for someone who had abused his trust so badly. But Phil wasn't a dreamer. He knew all too well that for men like him and Clint there wasn't any other alternative but to fight.

 

“You OK there?”

 

Phil forced a smile on his face. He wasn't sure he was OK, but Tony and Clint were having a good time, and he didn't want to ruin that for them.

 

“I'll be baby-bird, don't worry.”

 

Clint returned his attention to Tony and his never-ending talk about making sure that people in SHIELD and the Army could be safe on the field, how bombs and mines and other explosive devices were lethal for soldiers so poorly equipped, and that he could make a difference like SI did when it was still building weapons, but this time for the best; but a part of him was worried about his Dom.

 

Phil had been too quiet all day, and Clint knew the man enough to understand that there was something wrong going on, and that Phil didn't want him to find out. The last thought hurt more than Clint was ready to admit.

 

“I'm heading out for a bit. Do you guys need anything?”

 

Clint slipped closer to Tony, hoping that the other man didn't notice, and shook his head as an answer to Phil. If his Dom didn't want to tell him where he was going he was sure he had his reasons, or at least that was what he was repeating as a mantra to make himself believe that.

 

“Cinnamon rolls. You have to take back cinnamon rolls, and iced cappuccino. We can't do without them, we can't. Lot of rolls. Tell Jarvis to put them on my card...”

 

Tony didn't even raise his eyes from the calculations he was making, and the sketches that slowly were becoming real projects. He didn't need to look to know that Phil was hiding something that was eating him alive, and that Clint probably misunderstood the Dom's silence. Sugar was what they all were going to need, and sugar they would have had.

 

“I'll remember, Tony. You two behave while I'm out.”

 

“As always, Agent, as always. Can't you see the halo around our heads?”

 

Phil genuinely smiled for the first time in the day.

 

***

 

“Agent Coulson... I can't say this is a surprise.”

 

The guard on the underlevel 27 was a Dom, and a former Army ranger. He had lost an arm on the field, and was now wearing one of SI's new prosthetics. The artificial limb looked so natural, and was so functional that many would have been troubled telling the difference.

 

“How are you doing, Martin?”

 

The man was silent for a few moments, thinking about what he was going to say. Phil could see the man was probably deciding if he wanted to share something that had happened, and that was probably a secret, or share it with Coulson himself.

 

“Things are fine here, Phil. I'm still on probation because of this”, the man said looking at his arm, “and things here have been almost totally quiet...”

 

“Almost?”

 

“Hill got a visit, not too long ago...”

 

Now Phil was interested, “Did this visit have Fury's permission to be here?” Martin shook his head.

 

“No, the permission came from someone higher than the Director...” There were only a bunch of people higher than Fury, and Phil knew them all by name.

 

“How much higher?” Martin picked up the book he was reading before Coulson's arrival and looked very interesting in it.

 

“Let's just say... high enough to sit in a white house.”

 

Phil had always known that Maria had powerful friends, but he needed to know more now. He needed to know what the hell was going on, and if what Maria was hiding could put Clint and Tony in danger.

 

“Cell 25g. And if someone asked why I let you pass... tell them you threatened me with a Stark piece of technology.”

 

“I will, Martin, and thank you.”

 

The man was shaking his head. “No need to thank me. If someone had done the same to my sub I would have killed the bastard already.”

 

Phil thought that it was probably a good idea not to tell the other man how much he too wanted to kill Hill for what she did.

 

***

 

The cell was bare. Only a bed and a small table with a chair. Maria wasn't treated differently from the others prisoners, and that was a small relief for Phil.

 

“If you are here to enjoy the show...”

 

Maria's voice was full of hate and grudge. She was looking at Phil with so much coldness and rage that he was sure she would have tried to kill him given the opportunity.

 

“I'm here to have answers, Maria, and you are not in the position to deny me them.”

 

The woman was smirking now, believing that she still had the power to dictate the conditions of her staying in the cell.

 

“Don't you even think, Maria, that you have any kind of power left. You are going to answer me, because none of your friends can free you now, and I'm the only one who is going to decide what will happen to you.”

 

“What do you mean, Coulson?” She wasn't going to show any fear, Phil knew that, but he also knew that she was confused now, and decided to use that to his advantage.

 

“I mean, Maria, that I am the one who has your life in my hands.”

 

“What do you want to know?”

 

“What the hell did you want from Tony?”

 

Maria laughed. Her voice to high and too cold to be pleasurable. “You really don't know? You really are so stupid to think that the army and the WCS are going to leave Stark alone? They are simply waiting for the right moment to take him, and put him in his place. For years, Coulson, _years_ , our Army is working on making weapons that will change war forever. It's a shame that we still need a sub to make this happen. It's a shame, but a price we are ready to pay...”

 

Coulson wasn't sure if he could keep the disgust from his face. Maria's words were pure madness, her joy in thinking about the future she imagined was unbearable, but Phil had learned a long time ago to recognize the truth even between the delirious words of a mad woman.

 

“The Tesseract...”

 

Maria only laughed higher and didn't even realize that Phil was going away, taking with him a secret she had promised to never reveal.

 

***

 

The Captain was in a lab, surrounded by scientists, and he was using all his willpower not to remember another time he had been in a lab, and he had been a lab rat for their experiment, for people trying to find out what Erskine had done, and recreate the serum that was into his body, not giving a damn about how painful that had been for him.

 

They had used him, demanding his flesh and blood, not caring that he actually already gave them his body and soul. They wanted a whole army like him, and losing the serum had been their greatest failure.

 

“Sir, we are close. The notes that Mr Stark had left had been very useful.” The Captain focused his attention on his scientists, and only nodded at Soldier when he saw the worried expression on his face. He was OK, no need to make a scene.

 

“How close are you exactly?”

 

The Captain was looking at the small fragment of the cube that had been the Tesseract. Red Skull was able to save a piece of it, and even if smaller than the original cube, its power was enough to destroy cities and countries.

 

“We know how to take energy from the fragment now. We only need a way to use the pure energy and turn it into a weapon we can control.”

 

It sounded easy, and The Captain had learned to never trust easy things.

 

“Sounds to me that you miss the most important part of this long research.,,”

 

The man had the grace to blush. “We need Tony Stark. I've studied his weapons all my life. He knows how to manipulate energy, he found out a way and is not sharing his secret with anyone else. With his mind and knowledge we will be able to...”

 

The Captain sighed. Yes, they needed Howard's son, and soon. But the thought of meeting him, to meet the man who was sharing his eyes with Howard, who was carrying so much of him that hurt the Captain only watching him in pictures and internet videos, was something he wasn't even sure he could stand.

 

“We'll have Tony Stark as our guest in no time. Til then I suggest you all to keep working, I won't bear a failure, not this time.”

 

***

 

Phil was breaking every speed limit in the state of NY, and for once he didn't even care. His mind was spinning and he needed to clear it before he could come back to the tower. He knew he couldn't talk to Tony and Clint, not until he knew for sure if what Hill had said was the truth, and not until he found out if Nick knew or not.

 

If the army really was working on the Tesseract energy the whole world would have been in danger. Only 3 people in SHIELD, a bunch of very high ranked army men and the President knew about the pact between Earth and Odin, King of Asgard and rightful owner of the Tesseract. The pact that was protecting Earth from his rage and fury only because they had promised the All-Father to never try to use the Tesseract for their own purpose, and that they had destroyed everything related to the cube in their possession.

 

And now Maria Hill claimed that the Army was not only still researching the cube, but also that they were close to make weapons from it. Phil could see the world end in a war against Asgard, and it wasn't a good picture.

 

“JARVIS? How high is my clearance with you?”

 

Phil hated to use the power that Tony gave him over the AI to ask J to keep things from Tony himself, but it was for his own good, or at least that was what he was repeating himself to feel less guilty about what he was going to do.

 

The AI was deeply installed in Phil's Stark phone, and was always ready to answer him, and even this time in front of a strange question the lightly British accented voice answered him.

 

“As high as Master Stark's, at least in everything not related to change Master Stark's laws on Robotic behavior. For everything else, Sir, you are as free as my creator.”

 

“Can you hack into SHIELD main frame and find out everything they have about something called the Tesseract? This must stay between us JARVIS. Not Director Fury or Tony must know, at least until I don't know what I have in my hands.”

 

JARVIS was silent for a moment before to confirm Phil that he was beginning the hacking, and that no one will know.

 

If Phil didn't know better he was almost sure JARVIS was going to ask him not to hurt Tony with his silence.

 

***

 

Clint was naked and was kneeling on the bad, waiting for his Dom. He needed Phil like never before. He needed his Dom to show him that the scars all over his back, put there by someone else weren't disgusting like Clint thought, that Phil wasn't grossed out by them.

 

His body was relaxed, open for his Dom to do everything he wanted. He had took his time fingering himself, making sure that Phil didn't have to waste any time before he could claim Clint. If only Phil could hurry up doing whatever it was he was doing.

 

When the sub was beginning to think he couldn't wait any longer, that he was going to break Phil's order and move, just to go looking for him, Phil came back into the room, and his presence was enough for Clint to calm down even if the older man hadn't come anywhere close to the bed yet.

 

“You are so perfect for me, baby-bird.”

 

Clint felt the mattress sink when Phil joined him onto the bed, but the quiet and stillness lasted only a moment before the Dom began to brush his fingers and lips all over Clint's back, reclaiming Clint, marking very inch of Clint as his.

 

“Please... please, Sir.”

 

A sudden and unconscious fear had woken up in Clint. Why? Why was Phil being so kind? Why wasn't he mad his sub was wearing someone else marks? Was he planning to let him down without hurting his feelings too much? Was he so worthless now that he didn't even deserve a possibility to show his Dom how sorry he was? A possibility to show him he could take whatever punishment Phil wanted to throw on him, and show he could still be a good sub?

 

Clint didn't even realize when tears began to run over his cheeks, or when Phil had taken him in his arms and began to lull him waiting for his nerves to calm down.

 

Phil wasn't surprised, he was expecting for his boy to break down after what happened. He just had hoped that the self esteem issues created by too many years of abuses and betrayals hadn't raised their ugly heads to eat his baby-bird alive.

 

“Calm down my love. Calm down. It's OK, everything is OK now.”

 

They stayed like that for a long time until the moment Clint finally began to calm down.

 

“Sir?”

 

Clint's voice was broken by tears and sadness. He was looking at Phil like he still was waiting for the older man to send him away, and that was breaking Phil's heart.

 

“Tell me baby-bird.”

 

“You... you are not going to chase me away?” Clint didn't even know if that was a statement or a question.

 

Phil kissed Clint, putting in the kiss all his love and passion. He kissed Clint with so much possessiveness that all the air was stolen from the sub's lungs.

 

“Never, my love. I was lucky enough to find you, and I won't let you go Clint. Not now, and not ever.”

 

This time it was Clint who attacked Phil's mouth like he was starving and Phil was a banquet only he could taste.

 

The older man pushed Clint on his back without breaking the kiss, covering his boy with his own body.

 

“Keep your hands on the pillow, Clint. If you move them, for whatever reason, you'll be forbidden to cum, even when I'll be finished with you.”

 

Clint shivered at those words. Phil always knew how to make his body react.

 

“This night is for you Clint, but this doesn't necessary mean that I won't drive you crazy baby-bird, and you don't want to disobey me, not tonight.”

 

“I love you Phil. I love you so much Sir.”

 

The archer grabbed the pillow-case with an iron grip. He wasn't going to disappoint Phil.

 

Phil marked every inch of Clint's chiseled chest with his lips and teeth and tongue. He took his time playing with his nipples. He sucked at them, making them hard, and then he let his teeth bite at the bundle of nerves, hard. He played with them til they were red and ached so beautifully that Clint could feel Phil's teeth even when they weren't on him anymore. Clint didn't know anymore if he was begging Phil to stop or to keep going forever.

 

“Please... please Sir. Phil... I need you in me. I need you now.”

 

Phil couldn't resist his bird begging so sweetly.

 

“Open your legs for me, baby-bird.”

 

Clint didn't need to be told twice, his long legs parted for Phil, allowing the man to slip between them.

 

“So beautiful my bird. So ready to obey me. So eager to please...”

 

“Only you Sir. Only for you...”

 

“You are right. I am the only one allowed to see you like this.”

 

The archer was out of his mind with need and pleasure, and he was beautiful like that, and Phil wanted to eat him alive. His fingers were torturing Clint's body, opening him, pushing their way into his body, but never touching the bundle of nerves deep inside him.

 

“Please... please Sir.”

 

Phil knew his boy was ready. He knew Clint couldn't wait any longer; neither of them could. That was why he retreated his fingers from Clint, and quickly pushed his hard cock into Clint's warm and velvety body.

 

Phil didn't give Clint any time to adjust, his thrusts were fast, and hard, and this time he hit Clint's prostate every time he moved.

 

Clint's screams of pleasure were broken by his begging for more and his pleading for Phil to stop because it was too much, and his need to move his hands and stroke his cock, to come with Phil inside him was becoming unbearable.

 

“I'm so close baby-bird. You feel so good.”

 

Clint moaned in bliss and pleasure at his Dom's words.

 

“Please Sir... please let me come...”

 

Phil bit at his lips, drawing blood. He was close, he had missed Clint so much, but he wanted more.

 

“You can come baby-bird. But don't you dare to touch yourself.”

 

Clint groaned in frustration.

 

“You want to be a good boy for me right?”

 

Phil was nailing Clint's prostate with punishing force, moving into his body so hard that the archer was sure he could taste Phil in his mouth.

 

“Yes... yes please... Sir.”

 

“Then you are going to give this to me. You are going to come only because of my cock deep into your ass baby-bird.”

 

Phil thrusted particularly hard into Clint, making sure he knew that wasn't a request but an order.

 

He felt Clint tense, his muscles tightened around Phil's cock, an only because of his training Phil didn't come right there.

 

“Come for me baby-bird. Come for me Clint.”

 

Clint felt his body answer to Phil's body, he could feel his orgasm coming fast.

 

“Come for me my love. Come with me.”

 

That was it. When Phil's orgasm hits, when Clint felt his Dom's seed spilled inside his body, he spilled his own release between their bonded bodies.

 

The room was full of their heavy breathes. Thy were satiated and whole, and finally back with each other, and everything was right in the world for once.

 

***

 

Tony was alone that night. He would have loved to be with Phil and Clint, but he knew that the two men needed their privacy. They needed time together, and Tony wasn't selfish enough to steal that from them. So here he was, alone in his room, and actually scared to sleep even if he was exhausted.

 

“JARVIS, if during the night I have a nightmare wake me up. No need to bother Phil for a few hours, OK?”

 

Tony fell asleep only a few seconds after the AI answered him.

 

_Tony had been 3 when he discovered his status. He was told he was a sub, but he had been too young to understand what that really meant. He only understood that his mom looked happy, but worried in the same time. He was like his mom, and Tony was happy. Later that night he heard his dad scream against his mom, and he heard his mom cry when the door of their room closed, and Tony understood that his dad wasn't happy._

 

_Tony had been 4 when he realized that his dad really hated him. Howard never had had time for his only son, that was clear, but everything made sense when Tony realized how his dad treated every sub around him, starting with his own bond mate and wife. His dad hated subs, and he was one of them and Howard's biggest delusion._

 

_Tony had been 6 the first time he corrected a mistake his dad was making in an algorithm, and that had been the first time his dad had looked at him without disgust, but his mom had looked worried, so Tony thought he did something wrong and apologized to her, because young Tony loved his mom and didn't want to make her sad._

 

_The slap that his dad gave him, with the back of his hand, was so strong that Tony fell on the floor and tasted his own blood for the first time._

 

“ _You never apologize, boy. You are a Stark, and even if you are a pathetic sub you won't bring shame on my name. Am I clear?”_

 

_That time Tony learned his first lesson in the hands of his father. That had been the last night that his mom was allowed to spend time with him before bed._

 

_Tony had been 8 when his mom had died in a car accident. He was a big boy and he knew he wasn't supposed to cry, but it hurt so much to know that his mom wasn't going to sing for him anymore, that she wasn't going to be with him at his science presentations anymore, that she wasn't going to be with him when he would have found his Dom. So he cried all his tears because he was only eight and even if he was a Stark he missed his mom._

 

_Tony had been eight the night he learned how cruel and heartless a Dom could be._

 

_Tony was hidden under all his blankets. He always had loved the snow, but now that the snow had killed his mom he only wanted to hide and let the winter pass._

 

_The door of his room was open in the middle of the night, and for a moment Tony almost expected to smell his mom's perfume, but it was the smell of very expensive alcohol that hit his nose._

 

_A cruel hands grabbed his blankets and threw them away, leaving Tony exposed and shivering in the cold air of the room._

 

_Howard was looking at him with empty eyes. His face, that many would have called handsome, was expressionless and cold._

 

_Tony had been 8 the first time he learned a man's pleasure could be hell for another person._

 

_Howard sat on the bed, and Tony only wanted to make himself small enough to disappear because his dad's eyes were all over his body, and Tony had learned that when Howard payed him any attention things never ended well for him._

 

_Howard's hand began to wander on Tony's legs, under the clothes, so to grab and caress the delicate and smooth skin._

 

“ _Dad...what are you..?”_

 

_Tony was scared. His dad was acting strange and his mom told him since he was a small child, not to allow anyone to touch him like this, and he was pretty sure that his dad wasn't supposed to touch him like that._

 

“ _Dad?”_

 

_Howard grabbed Tony's left ankle and pulled, only to slap him hard on the face with his free hand._

 

“ _I'm going to teach you how to be a good sub, Tony. I'm going to show you the only thing your kind is good for.”_

 

_Tony tried to fight. He was scared and didn't understand what was happening. He only knew that Howard was hurting him. His hands were frisking his small body like he owned Tony. His body was too heavy while pinning Tony on the bed, and his lips were cruel while forcing Tony to accept his kiss._

 

_Howard smelled and tasted like alcohol and rage, and Tony wanted to throw up because of that. In a moment his pajamas were gone, and Tony was naked under Howard's body._

 

_Tony had been 8 when he learned that a man arousal was hard and could hurt._

 

_Howard got free of his own pants and pressed Tony again against the mattress._

 

“ _This is all your subs are good for Tony. And you'll be the best after I''ll finish with you.”_

 

_Howard pushed against Tony's entrance, and he was too small and weak and could only give up and bleed while Howard claimed the innocence of his own son._

 

_Tony screamed, and begged Howard to stop. He screamed and screamed and screamed...._

 

***

 

Phil jumped from the bed he was sharing with Clint as soon as the first scream echoed in the tower.

 

“Mr Coulson... I'm sorry, I tried to wake Master Tony but...”

 

“It's OK, JARVIS, I'm on my way already.”

 

When Phil opened the door of Tony's room, what he saw broke his heart. Tony was thrashing on the bed, crying, begging a ghost from his terrible past to stop, not to hurt him anymore.

 

“Tony it's me. It's Phil. Wake up boy, you are safe. You are with me. Wake up baby, it's only a dream.”

 

He was still talking, trying to reach Tony's mind while he approached the bed.

 

Phil knew that trying to touch Tony now could have been a huge mistake, but the sub wasn't answering to his voice, and that only meant that Tony was too lost in his mind and past for being able to wake up alone.

 

“Tony, baby boy, please wake up for me.”

 

Phil reached for Tony's shoulder and lightly shook him.

 

“Baby boy please, wake up.” Phil could see Tony's body tense even in his sleep. He knew well how scared Tony was of being touched without permission, and felt guilty for breaking Tony's trust, but it was his only option and he knew that.

 

“Tony? Wake up boy. Wake up you are safe, you are with me.”

 

Tony woke up and almost jumped out of his on skin. He was awake, but his eyes were unfocused; he was still trapped in the past.

 

“Tony? Listen to me...”

 

“Please, please don't hurt me. I'll be good. I can be good. Please don't hurt me...”

 

For the millionth time, Phil wished Howard Stark was still alive, so he could have killed him, slowly and painfully.

 

“Tony it me, it's Phil. You are safe with me.” Phil kept slowly talking to Tony, his voice low and reassuring, and slowly, Tony's eyes, red rimmed because of the tears, began to focus again.

 

“Ph...Phil?”

 

The older man only had time to nod before he found his arms full of a very frightened Tony.

 

“I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I didn't want to wake you up. I know you and Clint...”

 

“Clint and I are perfectly fine with you with us Tony. We are a family.”

 

Tony's body was soaked in sweat and he was shivering now. The bed wasn't in better shape.

 

“You go and take a hot shower Tony. I want to see you back here in ten minutes.”

 

Tony only nodded before going to disappear into the joint bathroom. He could still recognize an order when he heard one and really didn't want to enrage Phil, not when the Dom had looked ready to forgive him even if he fucked up the older man's night.

 

While Tony was gone, Phil took care of the bed, even if he knew that Tony wasn't going back to sleep in his room, not that night, and not in the future if he could keep that from happening. He had made the mistake to allow Tony to be alone once, and he wasn't going to do that again.

 

When Tony came back in his room exactly ten minutes later, Phil was waiting for him.

 

“Let's go boy. You are going to sleep with me and Clint.”

 

Tony tried to say something, but he was too tired and really wanted to feel safe, and Phil was using his Dom's power simply looking at him, and he suddenly forgot why he wanted to stay in his room.

 

As soon as Phil and Tony arrived in the Dom's room, Clint almost jumped on them. He grabbed Tony's hand, and Phil was glad that the genius didn't flinch or tried to take back his hand. He was still shy, but he let Clint lead him to the bed and tuck him under the blankets before joining them.

 

It looked like that night Clint was the one who was going to take care of Tony. Phil's job was to watch over them, and it wasn't like he could go back to sleep after all.

 


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter before the meeting.

IX

 

“You two are sure you're OK?”

 

Clint was wrapped around Tony; the genius was almost totally hidden by the duvets and blankets, and only his black hair was the proof that the man was actually there. But he was awake, and he answered Phil. “Go, save the world, and come back to us for supper, and bring back doughnuts, a lot of them.”

 

Phil had to smile, it didn't matter how stressed out or hurt Tony was, his sweet tooth was something that the genius wasn't going to lose anytime soon.

 

“Tony is right, Phil, you go and call us if something happens, but we'll be OK here, we aren't planning to leave the bed today.”

 

JARVIS waited for the Agent to be in the car before talking to him, and Phil was glad for that. “Sir, I have found something.”

 

“Tell me, JARVIS.”

 

The AI waited for a moment, and then he sent the documents to Phil's phone, making sure that the line was totally secure, and no one could hack it.

 

“Is this what you were looking for, Sir?”

 

Phil was looking at pages after pages of classified documents, and the more his fingers moved on the screen, the more bile was raising at the base of his throat. Men used like lab rats to test a serum that could have never been the same used on Steven Rogers; experiments that had killed a lot of good soldiers, ready to sacrifice everything for their country, names of agents lost because of the madness of men with too many stars and too little brain. And, above all, pages and pages about the Tesseract, and the proof that the pact with Odin had been broken so many times that it wasn't even funny to think about it.

 

“Sir? Your heartbeat is fast, and your pressure wrong. Are you OK? Do you want me to call help to your location?”

 

No, Phil wasn't physically sick, he was furious.

 

“Don't worry JARVIS, I don't need medical help. I just need a moment to calm down.” While he was still talking with the AI a name caught his attention, and this time he cursed so loud that the woman in the car next to him – in line in the morning traffic – looked at him like he was the Devil himself.

 

“JARVIS, make sure that Colonel Rhodes will never contact Tony again when Clint or I aren't with him. Block every call or email, and every physical attempt to see Tony alone.”

 

“Sir? The Colonel is Master Tony's older friend. I'm afraid I need an explanation before to follow your order.”

 

“He offered himself for an experiment that could make him very dangerous, J. He's already showed that he's ready to attack Tony to make him see their reasons, I'm not sure that with what he signed himself for he won't physically attack Tony...”

 

Phil didn't want to finish his though, he didn't want to go as far away as suspecting that the man could have been ready to actually force his status on Tony to bind the genius to him, like many in the military world would have loved.

 

“That's more than enough Sir, and thank you for being honest with me.”

 

“Always, J, we have the same goal in mind. We both want to make sure that Tony is safe.”

 

***

 

Phil was called by Fury's secretary as soon as he entered the HQ, and the man had to use all his self control to not scream in frustration. He would have loved to be left alone, but it looked like he was out of luck.

 

The secretary was a new one, a strong looking Dom, probably put behind a desk because of a field injury, the kind of man who doesn't take shit from anyone, and Phil had to wonder if it wasn't because Fury knew all too well that he was going to show in his office sooner or later.

 

“The Director is waiting for you, Agent Coulson.” Phil nodded and before he entered Fury's office.

 

“Did you want to see me, Director?”

 

If Phil had been the cold Agent that many accused him to be, he was sure he would have punched Fury as soon as his eyes landed on the bastard's smile.

 

“Yes, Coulson, there is still then little issue of Hill's punishment to talk about. I gave you freedom over the choice of the tool to use, but the Army gave me a date. They want two of his high ranked men present and I couldn't deny them.”

 

Phil wanted to laugh at that. He was sure that with all the shit Fury was doing behind their back he really didn't want to piss them off after all. Maybe that was one of the few times the man actually said the truth.

 

“When?”

 

“Two days from today. They have rules... they don't want any sub in the room...”

 

This actually got a reaction from Phil. “They don't get to make the rules here, Director. She didn't have any trouble in punishing two collared and bonded subs in front of everyone who wanted to enjoy the show, she's going to be punished in front of the same two subs and Tony Stark. They deserve to see that justice was made for them. And if the Army is against that, too bad Fury, because I'm not going to bend for them.”

 

“I knew you were going to say something like this, Coulson, and I told them. But they aren't happy. They want to talk to you. Probably because they hope to change your mind. Above all about Stark. It looks like they have an interest in him...”

 

Phil was more than aware about that, and didn't like the small smirk that was curving the side of Fury's mouth.

 

“I'll deal with them. And they better not to try anything funny with Tony.” The coldness in his mouth actually froze Fury for a moment. Something had happened to his best Agent, and the man was dying to find out what.

 

“Is this all, Director?”

 

Fury looked at Phil for a long moment. “No Agent it's not all. I need you to take charge of a mission that is beyond classified.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“I need you to go after HYDRA, Coulson.” Phil almost choked.

 

“We don't even know where...”

 

“I know well what we don't know Phil, but you have access to JARVIS now, and with his help, and Stark, I'm sure you'll be able to find traces easily, or at least I hope. Those bastards are like snakes, they attack and disappear, and they are shadows Phil, and we need to nail them once and for all. I'm tired of those fuckers ruining everything we are working for.”

 

“I'll do my best Director, but I can't promise anything.”

 

Before Fury could say more, Phil was actually out of the Director's office and on his way to his own. He had a bad feeling about this mission, and couldn't understand why. But for now he knew it was better for him to focus his mind on Hill and the mess with her.

 

***

 

“We could have a good date for the attack.”

 

The Soldier didn't even stop to knock at Captain's door before to enter with the news he just got from the little mole they had in SHIELD.

 

The man was working and if it wasn't because of his sharp senses he would have jumped in the air to the sudden entrance.

 

“And what that would be?”

 

“Two days from now. All the Doms in SHIELD will be invited to assist to the punishment of Maria Hill. Stark will be there too, and everyone will be too distracted to really pay attention to the security of the place and everything else. It will be the perfect day for us to attack and take Stark...”

 

The Captain thought about the pros and cons on the plan, and realized that Soldier was right. They had the perfect opportunity in their hands and would have been craziness to let is pass.

 

“Tell our little mole to be ready... we have a genius to kidnap.”

 

***

 

When the Agent came back at the Tower, he went straight to his room, and wasn't surprised when he found Clint and Tony still curled up together.

 

“JARVIS?” He tried to keep his voice as low as possible not to wake the two subs up. He knew they both needed as much rest as possible.

 

“Master Tony had nightmares all day long, and Master Clint was able to calm him down all the time, but it was exhausting for both of them. They fell asleep one hour ago, and I hope they'll stay that way. They deserve that.”

 

Phil slipped under the blankets with them, and wrapped himself around Clint and Tony both, letting the sleep claim him too, and forgetting the whole mess is life was for a couple of hours. But before he was deep down he felt Clint and Tony shift so they can fit even better into his arms.

 

***

 

Tony was in his workshop, he was working on some ideas that his board members were probably going to try to stop, risking to lose millions of dollars because of their blindness, but in truth his mind wasn't focused like it should.

 

For days now all he could think about was the algorithms that Hill had showed him. Tony wasn't a genius for nothing, he knew that those things had been important, and there was a side of him that was begging him to quit, to let it go, but he couldn't.

 

He knew that whatever the woman had wanted from him was important, and dangerous. But when Tony tried not to think about the numbers and codes forming clear pictures in his mind, he was forced to think about the strange feelings that were hunting him.

 

Feelings that he thought he had lost a long time ago, with his hope to find his Dom, and forget about everything that Howard had taught him. Because what Tony always imagined about his Dom was that he was going to be the one to make him see that everything that Howard had done and said to him wasn't what a real Dom was supposed to do and say and teach to a sub. He had always daydreamed about their first time together, and his Dom to be gentle and careful with him, even if he didn't deserve anything like that, even if he could take it hard. But with time all those childish fantasies had died, like the feeling of someone out there, waiting for him, actually looking for him, and now, after so many years, the same feelings were back.

 

Now after years he could almost feel the presence of someone made for him and him alone, and he was totally terrified.

 

He was terrified because if that was right he was going to meet a man that he was probably going to disappoint, and who was going to leave him because who could want a damaged item like him? And in the same time he was terrified because if he was only being delusional, and no one was out there looking for him, this time Tony wasn't sure he could survive being alone.

 

“Tony? Are you OK? JARVIS told me that you wanted to see me...”

 

Phil. Dear Phil, always an anchor for Tony, even when the man didn't know that. Always saving Tony from himself and his mind.

 

In a moment, without even realize what he was doing, Tony threw himself in Phil's arms, and only because the man had amazing reflexes them both didn't end up on the floor.

 

“Tony?”

 

“I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just happy to see you. What are you doing here?”

 

Phil sighed but he had an amused expression in his eyes that told Tony he wasn't really mad or even just upset.

 

“You called me here, remember?”

 

No, Tony didn't remember, at least not at the moment, but suddenly, just looking at Phil's tired eyes and the dark circles under them, he remembered why he had asked JARVIS to call him there, away from Clint's ears.

 

“You look like hell, Sir.”

 

“You called me here to tell me this? I'm not sure if I'm amazed that you couldn't come to the living room to share the information, or mad because I actually had to walk all the way here because someone fucked up the elevators this morning and didn't fix them yet.”

 

Tony moved his hands in the air just showing how uninterested he was about the elevators.

 

“JARVIS, fix the elevators please?” When the AI answered him that it had been done after only a few moments, Tony smirked.

 

“See? You just had to ask. And I called you here to tell you more than this. I called you here to tell you that you should trust Clint. He can take care of you for once you know? It's not against the rules. We both know the last time you slept was when you took a nap with us, and we both know tomorrow you are going to have a day from hell. You should let Clint take care of you tonight.”

 

Phil was well aware of what Tony was talking about. “I can't Tony. I can't, not this time. I need my mind free of everything if I want to hope to keep my words and not to kill her for what she did.”

 

“Listen, I know you. I know you well enough to know that yes you are lethal, yes you already killed a Dom with a cane, and still I let you close to me, I trusted you to give me what I need, even if that scared the shit out of me, and even if I basically was putting my life in the hands of someone with enough force and power to destroy me. But I trusted you, and I was right. And I am right now too. Go to Clint, stop to shut him out just to protect him. He doesn't need to be protected, he needs to know that you are OK, and that you are going to be OK even after tomorrow. You own him that much Phil.”

 

Phil was silent for long moments, simply looking at Tony, and Tony didn't drop his gaze, he didn't let the man in front of him intimidating him, because he knew he was right, and he knew that Phil was aware of that too.

 

“I can't Tony, not tonight. I don't know how.”

 

Tony gave him a small kiss on the cheek and smiled to the Dom. It was good to see that sometimes even him had doubts, it make Phil human, and Tony loved that side of him.

 

“Just trust him. Go to him Phil, and let him do all the job tonight.”

 

Phil left the workshop a few moments later, with Tony's words still echoing in is mind, and the prospect to spend the night alone, possibly in the gym, destroying his hands and muscles even if he knew he needed to be in shape in only a few hours.

 

The problem was that he really didn't know how to let Clint help, not right now. He needed to go back into the shoes of a Dom able to kill; the cold Dom he had been in the Army, when he knew all too well that his duty was to protect the lives of his men, and in order to do that he had learned to shut down his own feelings, he had learned to attack before his men could have been in danger, and he had been the perfect machine that SHIELD had been all too happy to hair as soon as he left the Army behind.

 

To be that man again meant for Phil to go back at the years before he had met Clint, before he had taken back his humanity and feelings, because the beautiful boy Director Fury threw at him wen no one else had wanted to deal with him, needed a Dom and not a cold machine able only to fight.

 

And Phil really didn't know if he could be that man again, and in the same time letting Clint take care of him. He never asked anything like that to his sub, and wasn't sure that was the right moment to begin.

 

Phil entered their room, only to find Clint kneeling on the floor, and his kimono pants on the bed, with the gazes he usually used to train in martial arts on them. Phil could only smile. Maybe Tony really was always right.

 

The older Agent allowed Clint to help him to dress and cover his hands with the white dressing that was only going to prevent his wrists being hurt or too sore for what as ahead of him for the day, and his feet not to lose their grip during kata. Clint kissed both his wrists before to cover them and reverently kissed and massaged the hard muscles of Phil's legs before to help the man into the pants.

 

The gym was ready for Phil, he began with stretching and exercises to warm his muscles, and then, he had a night of tai-chi in front of him. The martial art that was elegant as a ballet, and lethal as a samurai's blade.

 

Phil could feel the energy flow in his body, grounding him, balancing his body and soul. He realized that didn't need to come back to the cold soldier he had been to be able to face Maria Hill, he just needed to be Phil Coulson, the man he was now, the Dom Clint loved and Tony trusted. He didn't have to change, he just had to embrace who and what he was, and everything was going to be OK.

 

When JARVIS told him that it was 5 in the morning and a bath was waiting for him Phil was shocked. He didn't realize so much time had passed.

 

***

 

Clint was in the bathroom, kneeling by the bath tub, the scent of lavender was sweetly filling the room, and Phil realized that the tub was full of hot water and bath oils. Clint was silent, nothing was going to break the peace that Phil had found in his training, and for that the older man was glad to Clint, but there was a truth that he needed to tell Clint, there was a truth that was lingering in the air between them, threatening to poison Phil's mind all over again.

 

“I don't know if I'm strong enough. I don't know if I can keep my honor and not killing her. Every time I close my eyes I see you and what she did to you, and I can't control myself.”

 

Clint waited for Phil to enter the tub, and smiled when his Dom let go a sigh of pure pleasure while the water embraced his body, soothing his tired muscles and taking away the sweat and dirty from the gym.

 

“I'm here, Sir. She didn't break me, Tony saved my ass, and now you have the power to make her see her mistake. You have the power to stop her from doing this to any other sub. If you really have to think about something think about me, and the fact that I'm fine and by your side. She didn't take me from you, and you won't take her life from her.”

 

Phil dived under the hot water, letting its hot embrace claiming him and silencing the turmoil in his mind. When he re-emerged it was to see Clint's warm smile, and the complete trust in his beautiful eyes.

 

“I really wish I have the same faith in myself you and Tony seem to have.”

 

“We know you, Sir, and we trust you. Do you remember the first time we met?” Clint hoped that that walk in the past was the right thing to help Phil. He wanted to do more, he wanted to follow him into the tub and take care of his body's needs, but he knew better than that. He knew that Phil wasn't going to allow any form of relief until he had concluded his duty, and push him would only have ended in tragedy.

 

“Of course I do Clint.” Phil looked surprised by the question.

 

“Then think about that. Think about that day and what happened. Let that be the only thought in your mind for today, and remember why I trust you so much, why I know you are not going to kill her.”

 

_Hawkeye had been caught in the end. That was everything that the Agents of SHIELD seemed to be interested in. No one, from the highest levels to the recruits could stop to talk about how finally one of the most wanted men in the world was in their custody._

 

_But no one of them actually saw him._

 

_Only the Director had access to his cell, and so the speculation about him were going rampage and extreme._

 

_There were rumors that he was a powerful Dom. So terrifying that no sub was going to even try to get close to him. Rumors said that his body had needed like four tranq darts before to surrender, and some also said that he had kept fighting the team that was after him even after he had been hit by the darts._

 

_Phil Coulson was the only Agent non interested in the rumors. He wasn't interested in knowing how many darts had been used to make Hawkeye sleep, even if he thought that one was more than enough, after all he knew the man who had invented the drugs used for those things. He also wasn't interested in finding out if the boy was really a Dom or not, he had other priorities in his life, and he had teams to train and make sure they were ready for the field. If the man under his command could stop to talk and think and being idiots about Hawkeye, his job could have been a lot easier lately._

 

“ _Lost in your thought, Cheese?”_

 

_Nick Fury looked tired, more than usual, and stressed, and for a moment Phil had to wonder if they were going to face a worldwide crisis soon._

 

“ _What's wrong? You look like shit, Sir, and I saw you after a 72 hours non stop of patrolling.”_

 

“ _You always know how to flatter me Cheese, right? I need you to come with me. I'm sure you heard about our new acquisition, and I'm sure you don't believe half of the shit that people are saying. I need someone to handle him, and you are the only one I can think about.”_

 

“ _Handle him? What do you mean, Marcus?”_

 

_Phil had a feeling that he wasn't going to like the answer to his stupid question, but his pride was glowing at least. He had been right not to believe that Hawkeyes was a Dom after all._

 

“ _He's refusing to work for us. He's refusing to let anyone come close to him, he's refusing almost everything. I have a feeling that because of his dynamic he had learned a long ago not to trust anyone, and he probably had been abused enough times that he's not going to allow any Dom near him, not even our doctors.”_

 

“ _And what makes you think that it's a good idea to give him to me to handle? I'm a Dom, Marcus, and I'm unbonded. He's not going to trust me, like he didn't trust any other Dom that you probably tried to force him to trust.”_

 

_Fury decided not to answer to the veiled insult that was sure was laying somewhere in Phil's words._

 

“ _He had been a merc for two years. Only accepting jobs that were going to give him the freedom to kill Doms that were good for nothing waste of time and space. There is no sign of any Dom around him in that time, but before that and before to end up in a hospital with broken ribs and both his legs fractured in different places he had been in a circus with his brother, and there I'm pretty sure the Doms took full advantage of his age and status.”_

 

_Phil wanted to throw up thinking about the possibility that Marcus could be right._

 

“ _He's refusing any temporary collar too. He was adamant that the only collar he's going to wear is the one of his bond-mate, and he won't change his mind.”_

 

_Phil liked that. He was an old fashioned Dom, and never had believed in temporary collars. He firmly thought that only a bond-mate should give his collar to his or her sub and that never changed in the years. He really could understand Hawkeye._

 

“ _What do you want me to do exactly? And does he have a name or I should call him Hawkeye like anyone else seems so incline to do?”_

 

“ _His name is Clinton Barton, but call him Clinton and he's going to rip off your head.”_

 

“ _Clint. It's a good name. But you still didn't tell me what you are expecting from me, because I am good in what I do Marcus, but miracles are not my field.”_

 

“ _I just want you to try to talk to him, and see if you can do something. We need his skills, Cheese. We need this man, and I won't lose him because of his status.”_

 

_The door of a well guarded cell opened to show Clint Barton, short blond hair and inquisitive beautiful eyes as cold as ice, sat on a corner of the room, between the bed and the wall. The boy was beautiful, and suddenly all the words left Phil's mind._

 

_As soon as Clint saw Fury he jumped to stand. He wasn't going to allow the Dom to have an advantage over him, but his movements weren't as fluid as Clint was used to._

 

“ _What the hell do you want? I already told you I won't...”_

 

_Clint's words died on his lips when his eyes focused on the man that was with the Director. But before Fury could ask what the hell was going on Barton had went still and was looking speechless at Phil._

 

“ _Barton?”_

 

_Fury was confused, not really sure about what was happening under his eyes. He turned to his right hand and friend to have an explanation, but saw the distant gaze in his eyes._

 

“ _Get out, Marcus.”_

 

_Phil didn't even look at the Director when he ordered him out of the room. His full attention was for the boy in front of him._

 

“ _Phil, you know that I can't leave you...”_

 

“ _Out! Now!” The agent didn't even have to raise his voice, he just used the tone that he had used a long time ago, in the Army, the same tone that demanded total obedience. It was a clear warning that Coulson wasn't going to allow the other Dom to stay in his territory any longer, and finally Fury left, even if he didn't want._

 

“ _Do you know what just happened?”_

 

_Phil didn't left his place even if his instinct was screaming at him to touch the boy, claim him and mark him with his scent so that everyone knew that the beautiful sub was owned. But first Phil had to be sure that Clint was aware of what was going on._

 

“ _We... we began a bond, Sir.”_

 

“ _My name is Phil Coulson.” The boy nodded, repeating the older man's name in his mind. It had a good sound, a strong one, but for the moment Clint tried not to let the hope grow into his heart._

 

“ _And yes, we began a bond. But is in your right to stop it now. Is in your right to tell me not to come anywhere near you, not to touch you. But if you don't say it now, you won't have another chance, because as soon as I move, as soon as I touch you, the bond will be closed, and neither of us will be able to walk away from it. Think about that, Clint, think carefully.”_

 

_Phil fisted his fingers and planted his fingernails deep into his flesh. The pain was good, the pain was distracting enough that Phil didn't have to think about what was going to happen if Clint decided not to close the bond and walk away from him._

 

“ _You know what I am, right?”_

 

_Phil was confused only for a moment._

 

“ _I know who you have been. Who you are now is a free man, and a sub I would love to call mine.”_

 

“ _I'm damaged good. I can't follow orders to save my own life. I am a mess. I can't even keep a house clean... I never had a house to keep clean...”_

 

“ _Do you want to try? Do you want to try to follow orders if they are given to you to make your life easier? Do you want to try to have a home... with me?”_

 

“ _Will you punish me?”_

 

_Phil nodded, “When you'll need that, yes, I will.”_

 

“ _Are you going to abandon me, when you'll realize that I'm not worth the stress? When you'll realize that other had used me, and that I'm not good enough for anything more than a fuck?”_

 

_Phil's heart was breaking, because he knew that Clint really believed what was saying. He really believed he was unworthy of a bond, and that Phil was going to throw him away once he used him at his heart content._

 

“ _Never. I would never abandon you Clint. And not only because if you accept to close the bond and be mine I could send you away more than I could live without my heart, but because I'm nothing like that. I would never hurt you.”_

 

_Now everything was in Clint's hands. He was the one with the power to decide if they could try to be happy, or if he was too hurt and a chance to happiness wasn't worth the possibility of more pain and anguish._

 

_The room was full of an uneasy silence. Clint had his head down-casted. He desperately wanted to believe that the man in front of him, someone that looked very close to Fury, and probably very high in SHIELD hierarchy was sincere. He desperately wanted to believe that after so many years spent alone, trying to forget everything that had been done to him because of his dynamic, he finally had found his peace._

 

_But the truth was that he didn't know. He didn't know if Phil was a good man, or if he was going to cage him as soon as they were alone. He didn't know if Phil was a good Dom, or someone who was going to abuse him like many others did, with the difference that this time the law was going to be on Phil's side. He was going to be the one with the power in their relationship, and Clint wasn't sure he could survive this time._

 

_It would have been so easy to walk away from the possibility of pain and abuse, but doing that would also mean to walk away from the possibility to know what it really meant to be loved and cared for, and Clint was too tired to run for allow that to happen. He knew he had reached his decision. He just hoped that his instinct wasn't going to betray him this time._

 

“ _I... I want to close the bond... if that's OK, Sir.”_

 

“I decided to take a chance and trust you, Phil, even if I was scared like never before in my life, and I did that because I knew there was more in you that your suit and your military posture and power. I knew I could trust you, and even if it was a long time before I said that to you with words, it was true since the beginning. And like so many years ago, I trust you now not to lose your temper and balance and not to kill her. You are better than her and her friends, and you won't stain your name with her blood.”

 

Phil kissed his sub like he was dying and Clint's lips hold the cure for him. “You are so perfect for me.”

 

No matter how many time he heard those words, no matter how many times Phil had kissed him like that, Clint couldn't stop the smile forming on his lips, and the slight blush coloring his cheeks.

 

“Jasper is due to arrive in twenty minutes, Sir. Tony and I will see you at the HQ at eight. Is that OK?”

 

“That's perfect. You too keep an eye on each other Clint, and if things become too much, for any of you, just leave the room. You and Tony had nothing to prove, and that's an order. Am I clear?”

 

Clint nodded, but both of them knew that that wasn't going to happen. Both Tony and Clint needed to see that Maria was really going to get what she deserved, but above all both the subs needed to know that Phil was going to be OK.

 

 

 

 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are. They finally meet. The chapter contain a graphic description of corporal punishment, and can trigger people, please don't read if you think you can be bothered.

 

“So, are you ready?”

 

Jasper was driving for a good five minutes before he decided to ask Phil the question that was lingering between them.

 

“I am. And are you sure that you are OK with letting me handle everything?”

 

The other Dom sighed, but kept his eyes on the street. “She didn't touch Melinda. She wanted to, for sure, but Stark stopped her before that happened. She marked Clint's body with a forbidden tool, and you have every right to be the one handling everything...”

 

“She's still having nightmares, right?”

 

Phil had seen the dark circles around Jasper's eyes, and had known that his friend hadn't sleep for days probably.

 

“Yes. She's still in shock in all truth and honesty, that's way Fury took her from the fields... but.... but I think this is good. She's a great fighter, and she did better than many Doms during operations, but she's a caregiver, she'll never admit that, but I really think she'll be happier being a handler than an operative. I just hope she'll realize that and I won't be forced to order her to step back. What happened... what happened almost broke her, and she wasn't even touched physically...”

 

“She saw a friend abused because of his status and dynamic. The mental wounds she's carrying are probably deeper than we can imagine.”

 

***

 

“How do you feel?”

 

The Soldier was worried. It was a long time since the last time The Captain had been in New York, and it had been a long time since the last time their leader had been on the front row – from what the Soldier knew, it was going to be a blood bath.

 

Even with their little mole, and their power, the SHIELD agents weren't going to surrender without a fight, and many of the men they were going to face were good fighters and loyal to their ideals. They were going to die to protect their organization, and they were going to protect Stark with passion, not for the sub himself, but because of what he represented.

 

For a moment The Soldier cursed Stark's name. One of them had already hurt The Captain, more than the man was ready to admit yet. He had been there when the man had come back from his too close call with ice. He had been with him while the nightmares and the betrayal were eating him alive with nightmares so strong that The Captain had been terrified by the simple idea of sleep. He had been by his side when The Captain had tried to contact Howard Stark only to realize that the man was now married to a nice, little sub, with gentle eyes and a natural submission in her so strong that even a blind man could see it.

 

He had been the one to comfort his friend when the last remaining thing of what his life had been had slipped from his fingers. The Captain probably never had been in love with Howard, but for sure he had cared, too much.

 

And now, they were hunting another Stark. Now, this new genius was probably going to raise memories in The Captain's mind and soul, and it was probably going to be hard to watch, all over again. But this time he swore he wasn't going to allow the new Stark to go under his friend's skin as deep as Howard did. He swore he was going to take things in his hands if the sub was going to be more trouble than help.

 

“Ready.”

 

“You know right, that Red Skull rarely was on the field?” The Soldier knew better than to tell his leader to stay back, and watch, but he couldn't stop from trying, playing with his words.

 

“And you know, right, that it was for that reason his men weren't loyal to him, and when I took him down they accepted me as their new leader without protest. Now, Soldier, you are my closest friend, but if you dare tell me to stay put while you lead _my_ men into a battle, I'm going to skin you alive, never forget who is the leader and where your place is.”

 

The Soldier knew he had crossed a line with his friend and leader, but he couldn't let go of the bad feeling that something was going to happen, and that Captain was going to be in the middle of that.

 

“As you wish, Captain.”

 

“I don't wish, Soldier, I demand. Now, go take your place, and be ready.”

 

***

 

“Will you do me a favor, Jasper?”

 

The silence in the car was broken by Phil's voice, and for a moment Jasper was glad that the morning traffic wasn't in its fullness yet.

 

“Are you asking me this as a Dom or as our friend?” Phil didn't answer immediately, and Jasper knew that something was up.

 

“I'm asking you this as a friend, Jasper, and as a follow Agent.”

 

“How deeply into shit are you going to throw me, Phil? I had known you for years now, and I know that tone of voice. What's going on?”

 

Phil had half a smile on his face for a moment, Jasper was smart, smarter than many people thought, and for that he was largely understimated, even in their Organization.

 

“Today, everyone is going to be there to watch what I'll do Hill. That means that we are going to be vulnerable. I don't like that and I don't trust that.”

 

“Phil, we are well protected and...”

 

“And HYDRA is an enemy that was underestimated too much already.”

 

Jasper almost broke the brakes of their car when he went to a sudden stop. All the color had drained from his face, and the man looked ready to throw up.

 

“What the hell are you talking about, Phil?”

 

“Keep driving, Jasper, please, and calm down. They are active again, and they are dangerous like never before. And today we are vulnerable; it would be a perfect day for them to attack.”

 

“But if they do, Phil, if they attack, and they choose today, it means we have a leak in our security system, and since Stark put his hands on that I really don't think that's a possibility, so the only other option is that a mole is inside, and that would be...”

 

“Call me paranoid if you want, but please keep an eye on every security camera and system. If you don't trust me, at least trust my need to keep Clint and Tony safe...”

 

The rest of the trip to the HQ was made in a perfect and uneasy silence. Both men were deep in thoughts, and both of them worried for too many reasons.

 

***

 

“Thank you.”

 

Tony was in the kitchen, finishing to plate the breakfast for himself and Clint when the blond appeared behind his back. The genius almost jumped, even if he logically knew that it was only Clint in the house, and that Clint would never hurt him in any way.

 

“For what, birdy brain?” He was able to not drop the eggs and bacon he was putting on the plates and was actually very proud of himself.

 

“For talking to Phil, for sending him to me, for breakfast, for everything more or less.”

 

“I know I'm that fabulous.” The smile reached his eyes and his voice, and Clint was genuinely happy to see his friend so relaxed – even if he had sensed his tension only a few moments before.

 

“We have to eat and be ready in half an hour. Happy is going to drive us, but I have to tell you he's not happy. I mean he's Happy, and he's not... OK, this is going to be messy. He's mad because of what happened even if he doesn't know the details.”

 

“It's OK, Tony, I know Happy, remember?”

 

The two subs ate in silence and before they realized it, it was time for them to go. Tony didn't allow anyone in the penthouse, so they had to wait for Happy in the lobby.

 

“I know that Agent is good and great and everything but I'm worried, you know?”

 

Clint smiled at the use of Tony's old nickname for Phil. “I''m worried too, but I'm sure everything will be fine today Tony.” The genius nodded, and tried not to listen to the malicious voice that reminded him every time someone said something like that that something terrible had happened.

 

The two subs left the tower and JARVIS wished them a good day. It looked like any other day in their lives, and yet Tony couldn't shake the feeling he had been watched all the time. He knew it was probably because of his paranoia, but it really wasn't a feeling he liked.

 

***

 

Phil didn't wait for Jasper to park the car, he reached for his office. He was hoping to have a few moments alone before he went to the auditorium, but the universe probably hated him even more than usual today.

 

Nick Fury was walking towards him, with two other men on his tail. They were wearing a uniform, and Phil knew they were there for Maria Hill.

 

“Agent Coulson, come with me, these two gentlemen need a word with you before the main event of the day.”

 

Phil sighed and nodded, glad for the coffee he had been able to take at the tower before to leave.

 

The door of Fury's office was unlocked with a code before the man pointed to some chairs his guests were welcome to use.

 

“Agent Coulson...”

 

“Gentlemen, we all know why you are here, and we all know that the only promise I will make to you is that I won't kill her. I won't promise anything else, because of what she did I have every right to make her pay.”

 

“Maria Hill as a member of the US Army, and she's invaluable for us. It would be better for everyone if we could find another solution...”

 

Now Phil was furious, and almost unable to keep calm. “Are you really suggesting that I'd give up my right to punish Hill for abusing my collared sub? Are you really suggesting that she's so important to you that I should forget what she did to Clint and what she wanted to do to Tony Stark?”

 

Phil's hands were shaking and everything in his body was screaming danger.

 

“I'm sure you all would be very happy if I was someone you could intimidate so easily. But sadly for you all, I'm not. I happen to be someone who was able to gain Mr Stark's trust and, speaking about him, why don't I call him to tell him what you just asked from me? I'm pretty sure he has the President on his speed dial, and because of the status of his wife and son, I'm sure the President will be happy to hear what high ranks of his Army had just had the gut to ask me for. Now, if you want that, you can keep talking, gentlemen, but if as I think you don't want to disturb the President with something like this, I'm afraid my presence is needed somewhere else.”

 

The Agent looked everyone in the eye, waiting for any of them to be stupid enough to force his hand, but no one risked to find out if he was ready to call the President or not. The room was still filled with silence when Phil closed the door behind his back.

 

***

 

Maria Hill was scared, like she never had been in her life. Her facade was crashing, and she was quickly losing her composure.

 

She had underestimated Phil Coulson, and only now she was starting to realize her mistake. One of the guards of her prison had showed him the pictures of what he did when he was still in the Army, and after a long time she felt scared. Now the same guard was escorting her to the same auditorium where she had had Clint Barton finally in her hands.

 

She was wearing a white house robe, and even if she was trying to hide it, she was shivering. Only now that she was in the same condition, she realized how humiliating it had been for Mey and Barton.

 

The auditorium was full, once again, even if this time there were above all Doms, there to see her at Phil's mercy. She couldn't hear what many of them were saying, but in the same time she was pretty sure that many were speculating about what she was wearing under the robe.

 

Phil Coulson was in the middle of the stage, near the Saint Andrew's cross. He was wearing black, like usual, but he wasn't in a suit. He was wearing a light pair of pants, like the ones that people used for yoga, and a black, tight, t-shirt that showed the muscles usually hidden under tailored shirts.

 

For a moment Maria frowned, confused. That wasn't how she had visualized the moment, there was something off, and she couldn't understand what it was.

 

The guard took her to the cross, slightly nodding to Coulson, and for a moment it was like time itself has frozen. Her eyes fell on Tony Stark, the core of ever heartburn she had in the last months, and Clint Barton, the torn in her side since he joined SHIELD. The two subs were sat with Director Fury, and they were watching at her like she was something disgusting and entertaining in the same time, and God if possible she hated them even more than normal. Stark's chocolate eyes were cold, and he didn't even flinch when she snarled at him.

 

The guard put a hand on her shoulder, pushing her closer to the cross.

 

“I really suggest you behave.” Coulson's had spoke with calm, but her voice was like iron and ice.

 

When the robe was tore from her, the auditorium fell silent. She was wearing a black bra and matching panties even if Coulson had the right to demand her in the nude, like she did. Once again Coulson had showed to be a better man than she was, once again he silently showed his superiority. Now all she could see, while the guard tied her wrists and ankles to the cross, was the polished wood, stainless and flawless, and only then she realized that Jasper wasn't in the auditorium. He was one of the few Doms, actually inside the HQ, who wasn't in the auditorium. It was strange, and for a moment she wondered where the hell he was. She was sure he had wanted to see her like this for a long time now, but her mind was forced to focus on something else when the noise of a cane slicing the air reached her ears.

 

“Maria Hill, for your transgression towards Clint Barton, Melinda May and Tony Stark, as Director of SHIELD, I strip you from any position you occupy earlier, and condemn you to submit to any punishment that Agent Phil Coulson believes to be fit.”

 

The silence was once again heavy and uneasy in the room, before Phil spoke. “100 blows with the cane.”

 

The silence was broken by a common gasp. Every Dom in the room knew the damages that a cane could do, above all in that number of blows.

 

***

 

Jasper was keeping an eye on the camera in the auditorium, but most of his focus was on the defensive system. Phil had been right, no one was in the control room. Everything looked fine, but Phil's words had made him paranoid.

 

The cameras in the auditorium made possible for Jasper to see every expression on every face, and he was amazed by the different reactions.

 

Tony and Clint were focused on Phil, like Hill wasn't even there. They weren't looking for revenge, they only wanted Phil to be OK and for that situation to be over once and for all. Jasper would have liked to say the same about himself, but the truth was that he wanted revenge for Melinda, and he wanted to see Maria in the mud for everything she did in her years as Fury's protege.

 

Phil looked his composed himself. Everything in his body language screamed power and quiet. He wasn't out for blood even if he was going to drain a lot of it. He payed attention to how he was dressed, something that he didn't that morning, and laughed loudly.

 

He was a clever, clever man. He knew that the Army was probably going to claim that 100 blows were too much as a punishment, and that Coulson had chose that because he was a sadist, and wanted to satisfy his own pleasure. And it was true. Jasper was one of the few men alive to know how high was Phil's score as a sadist, but he also knew that Phil never had satisfied that side of himself during a punishment. Wearing yoga pants, that did nothing to hide his admittedly impressing cock, was a safe way to show that he wasn't going to get off because of what he was going to do.

 

While he was still laughing his eyes fell on Natasha Romanov. Her face was as hard as stone, and her skin pale. If he didn't know better Jasper was almost tempted to say that she was feeling emotions. The problem was that he didn't know what kind and for who. He had thought that she was fond of Clint Barton, and still, she looked like she got along with Hill more than with anyone else. She was a strange Dom and, like Maria, she had hated Stark since the first day, probably for the same reason Maria had disliked him so much. And yet, there was something, like a piece of a puzzle that didn't look important in the beginning, and still was essential to complete the picture. Something was missing with the Black Widow, but Jasper couldn't say what it was.

 

If his attention wasn't so focused on the auditorium, he probably would have noticed the code that had been insert in the system, sadly Jasper's attention never had been as good as Phil's, and he also never had been that good in reading people.

 

***

 

The Captain was wearing his mask now, and suddenly he didn't look kind and gentle anymore. He looked dangerous and dark, and his black HYDRA uniform did nothing to hide that side of him. The mole had done an impressive job. The virus in the SHIELD systems was working perfectly and no one had a clue, in only half an hour the virus was going to destroy every defense the organization had, and his men were ready to attack and fight.

 

“We are ready, Captain.”

 

“Yes, Soldier, we are.”

 

 

***

 

The cane in his hands was flexible but strong, beautifully decorated with a coat of black laque that not only helped the aesthetics, but gave it more endurance for what Phil was going to do.

 

It felt strange to have once again a cane in his hands, knowing for what he was going to use it. Phil wasn't very fond of the cane in his bedroom with Clint, but he had mastered the tool a long time ago, he had killed with one, he had punished with one, but never before he had faced his darkest side with a cane in his hands. Never before he had been forced to face someone who abused Clint, and promised not to claim their lives.

 

Phil breathed deeply, calming himself and finding the place in his mind where the Dom was in total control, and free to show everyone his real face. When he opened his eyes again everyone saw the change in him. His eyes were dark, focused and cold and Clint and Tony were glad like never before that Phil was theirs.

 

Because of the nature of the tool, Phil had to take place closer to Maria that she had been with Clint. He could see her skin was already covered in sweat. She was afraid and Phil couldn't find in himself to be sorry for her. She had asked for what was happening, she had done everything alone.

 

“Director?”

 

Phil's voice had sounded alien to the auditorium. There was nothing of the man everyone thought to know, who was on stage right now was someone cold and demanding, and unafraid to show his power.

 

“I'll count for you, Agent Coulson.”

 

Phil nodded in his direction. He was ready to begin.

 

***

 

Tony was tense, he knew what was going to happen, he wasn't alien to the feeling of a cane on his body, and he dreaded the moment Hill's skin began to split. He didn't want to admit it, but he could begin to feel pity for the woman, knowing all too well the pain she was going to feel in only minutes.

 

“You OK there, Tony?”

 

Clint was looking at him, worried, and Tony could only nod, not trusting his voice right now. He snuggled closer to Clint, almost melting at his side.

 

“I just want it to be over, Clint.”

 

The blond squeezed his hand. He understood perfectly. When Fury's voice counted 'one', and the first dark pink line appeared on Maria's skin, both of them sighed.

 

***

At twenty Tony could see the blood beginning to run on Maria's back and the noise of the skin being open was terrible and deafening. The auditorium was silent. Maria was trying to keep herself from screaming, her lips was bloodied, and the genius knew from personal experience that soon she was going to be unable to keep her silence.

 

Clint grabbed his hand and squeezed forcefully, focusing Tony's mind on the present, making him feel that he wasn't alone, and silently remembering him that he wasn't the one on the cross, and that Phil wasn't Howard.

 

Fury's voice sounded strained, like he didn't know what was going to happen when he had started counting for Phil, and everyone could see that not even once Phil's cock had answered to the blood that was now running over Maria's body, and the count was only at thirty.

 

At forty, Maria was screaming so loudly, and there was so much blood on the floor that Phil had to be careful while moving to change the angle of his blows. Tony and Clint both were pale now, and shaking. Both of them tried desperately to hide their fears, but sadly watching what was happening had taken back to their minds memories that would have been better stayed buried.

 

At fifty, even the Black Widow was showing emotion. Her eyes were wide open, and her breath too fast. If Tony didn't knew better he would have thought that she was going to throw up.

 

At sixty Jasper, in the controlling room, was almost ready to pass out, or at least run to the closer bathroom. He looked like he wanted to puke everything he had eaten the last week, and something more too. He never saw what Phil could do with a cane, and now that he knew he had a renewed respect for his old friend. Not many man with the same power were able to remain good men to the core like Phil was.

 

At seventy the two Army men were almost hopping on their chairs, regretting the moment the crossed Agent Phil Coulson, and wondering how was it possible that the Army had lost someone like him.

 

At eighty Fury's voice was starting to falter. Even him was taken aback by what was in front of him.

 

At ninety Phil's mind, the rational part of it, began to wonder if Clint and Tony hated him now, with the same force they hated the abusers in their past.

 

At one hundred the cane fell from Phil's hand. Maria wasn't screaming anymore, because she didn't have the force to do that but no matter how ferocious the punishment had been, not even once Phil had her passing out.

 

He stepped back from the blood and Maria, and let the medics take her down from the cross and take care of her. He drank the water that was given to him, mechanically, and wiped away the sweat from his face and neck. When Maria was taken away, and men ready to clean everything appeared on the stage, his mind slowly came back to itself, and slowly turned to look at Clint and Tony, but they weren't there anymore, and Phil's heart broke.

 

Phil closed his eyes, and tried to breathe through the pain that he was feeling in his soul when he almost was knocked out on his back by two body's hugging him with force.

 

“Are you OK, Agent?”

 

“I love you, Sir.”

 

Both Tony and Clint kept him as close as possible, almost crushing him, and Phil could feel their love. He wanted to tell them something, he needed to tell them that he was OK, and that he loved them, and he would have if Jasper didn't came running into the auditorium, screaming that they were under attack.

 

***

 

Fury jumped when Jasper arrived and began to screams order.

 

“Do we know who?”

 

Jasper looked at Phil for a moment and then answered Fury with a whisper. “They are... they are HYDRA.”

 

The time froze for Phil.

 

Fury was paler than Phil ever remembered to see him, and after a moment he screamed orders, orders that Phil had never heard him give before. He called for the heads of D&R, and told them to take their prototypes. It was crazy, and Phil was almost going to tell him that, then he realized that Tony was still there, and he wanted him safe.

 

“Director, make sure that Stark is safe. Clint and I will join the other agents and fight.”

 

Fury looked at Tony like he only now realized he was still there. “Follow me, Stark. My office is still the most protected place in this building.”

 

Tony wanted to argue that the most protected place in the building should have been the labs, but he knew it wasn't the time to state the obvious. He followed Fury without a word, and if the man hadn't been stopped by an agent carrying weapons that Tony never saw before, the genius probably would have never found the truth about what Fury was doing.

 

Tony wasn't a genius for nothing, and he wasn't blind. He had seen proof of the Tesseract's power since he had memory of his father's lab at home. And the blue light that the weapons were emanating was enough for Tony to finally solve the puzzle of what the hell was so secret that Fury did everything in his power to hide.

 

“You fucking son of a bitch. You are going to have us all slaughtered by Odin himself.” Tony's voice was so cold that the agents surrounding Fury waiting for an order stepped back of half a step before Fury looked at Tony with so much force that for a moment the Genius thought he was looking at Howard all over again. But he had been a child back then, and he was the owner and CEO of Stark Industry, so he didn't flinch, simply staring at Fury, waiting for an explanation.

 

“And what do you think our enemies are going to attack us with? Do you think that they will follow the rules? Because they won't, Stark, and they won't think twice before to kill you if you are in their way, so you better be fucking grateful that I gave the order to finish these weapons...”

 

That was what made Tony smirk coldly.

 

“With the only problem, Nick, that that's a lie, right? These are just prototypes. You don't know if they are going to work, and if they do, they are not as powerful as you were hoping for, because you have no idea how the Tesseract works. You have no fucking idea what's going to happen to these agents, because you have no idea how these weapons are going to work, if they are going to work at all and not simply blow up in their faces...”

 

Fury barked his orders to the agents before grabbing Tony hard enough to force a chocked noise from his throat and once again walked to his office.

 

“You'll stay here, Stark, and God help you if you break this simple order.” He was gone before Tony could find something to say. As soon as he was alone, Tony used his skills on the screens in the office, and watched what was happening in the whole HQ.

 

It wasn't long before Tony understood who was going to win. It was like the HYDRA soldier knew perfectly where they were going and what to look for. Not even once any of the security system stopped them, and it was for that that he knew there was a mole inside SHIELD.

 

But he couldn't find the two people he was looking for. He was pretty sure that Clint was in the vents or somewhere high enough to use his weapons without being seen, but that didn't mean he wasn't worried for him, and the fact that he couldn't see Phil in the chaos that the HQ now was almost killed him.

 

***

 

The attack at SHIELD had been unexpected and bloody. HYDRA took control of every possible defense the Organization could hope to have and the black dressed soldiers, lead by the Captain himself, didn't need much time to literally fly on every level, fighting and killing every Agent fool enough to oppose them.

 

“You know who we are here for, Soldier. I want him unharmed.”

 

The Soldier nodded and ran away, looking for one Tony Stark.

 

***

 

Clint and Phil were somewhere, fighting against HYDRA, and Tony was scared and worried and angry. He had been lied to, a pact with Asgard had been broken because of the blindness of people too thirsty for power to understand why Odin himself had forbidden them to use the Tesseract. Someone had tried to use his mind and resources to create more powerful weapons, someone had put his family in danger because of that.

 

When the door of Fury's office was opened with force, Tony was ready to tear off the head of everyone who dared to come too close to him, and only when he saw that it was Phil, looking at him with relief, Tony calmed a bit.

 

“Are you OK? Where is Clint?” Seeing that the archer wasn't with Phil did something really unpleasant to Tony's stomach. He saw something like pain in Phil's eyes, and his heart almost stopped.

 

“We were separated, I needed him on the higher levels when he can use his arrows. But we don't have time. They are here for you, Tony. They want you, and I have to take you away from here.”

 

Tony wanted to retort, to tell Phil that he was able to protect himself, that they should go and look for Clint, but he saw the determination in Phil's eyes, and the fear, because a man without fear is a man who is weak and easy to defeat, and Tony knew that this time it was different, this time it was a kidnapping group of people out for his money. This time it was an army out to take him, and his only hope was that Phil could take him out of that mess.

 

Phil grabbed Tony and ran towards the hangar, hoping that HYDRA didn't reach that first. It was the only hope to take out Tony alive from the HQ, any other way had been blocked and lost in the beginning of the fight. The Agent was glad that for once Tony was following him without arguing or even talking.

 

The hangar looked empty, but it was also quiet. Too quiet, and if life had taught something to Phil he knew that that was never a good sign. But before he had time to tell Tony to go back and look for a place to hide, footsteps distracted him.

 

In the middle of the room, close to the jet Phil had hoped to use, was a man with black rimmed dark eyes and a mask covering the lower part of his face. Phil's blood froze in his veins, but not because he knew all too well who the man was, but because he wasn't alone. He was grabbing Clint's neck in a painful vise, while the sub, evidently hurt was fighting to get free.

 

“Things are very easy here, Agent Coulson. You give me Mr Stark, and I give you back your sub.”

 

The Soldier sounded sure of himself, and of the back up he had, but Phil had an advantage in knowing the hangar better than him. He knew there was a small passage, leading outside, hidden in the wall. They wanted Tony for a reason, and he knew well what that reason was, and wanted Tony as far away as possible from that. The only thing he didn't know what was his plan was going to mean for Clint. He just hoped that Clint would understand. In a moment he took his gun and shot some fuel barrels behind the Soldier, and taking advantage of the confusion he began to push Tony towards the back door that only a few people knew about. But when they were almost there a cold and furious voice erupted in the hangar, freezing everyone.

 

“Don't you dare to touch my sub.”

 

There in the middle of chaos and flame was The Captain, and his eyes were locked on Tony like no one else was with them.

 

To Phil utter horror Tony's knees gave up under him and he gracefully dropped on the floor, his head bowed, in a pose of perfect submission.

 

“Sir.” It was the only word that left Tony's lips.

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We find out a little more about Tony past, and we get to see him to interact with his Dom at least a bit!!! Reference to past rape, if it's not your cup of tea, please don't read

XII

 

Clint woke up slowly, his head hurt, and he felt dizzy. Someone had hit him hard, and he wasn't happy about that.

 

His eyes adjusted to the dim light of the room, and he looked around. He was somewhere windowless and the heavy looking door, the only way out, was locked and lacking of a keyhole. It was pretty clear that he was trapped, and Clint cursed loudly because he hated to be trapped and not even knowing why or where.

 

HYDRA had obviously taken him, and Clint swallowed hard. He didn't understand why to take him, why to bother when... when they had what they were looking for.

 

The blond archer tried to fight back tears while his mind reminded him what had happened.

 

_Tony was on his knees, totally unaware of the hell around him. He didn't care, it was clear by how relaxed his body was, but Clint knew Tony like no one else, and he knew, he knew that even if his body already accepted The Captain ownership, he was terrified._

 

_The Captain had stalked toward the kneeling man, like he owned the place, not giving a damn about the men shouting and screaming, and the bullets still flying. He had stopped in front of Tony, and for a moment Clint had been sure he was going to hit him._

 

_Clint had struggled in the Soldier's grip, trying to get free, the need to make sure that Tony was OK, stronger than the knowledge that his capturer could kill him in any moment. But The Captain didn't hit Tony, for a moment the man just looked at the beautiful sub on his knees, and then one of his hands, covered in black leather, found its way in Tony's hair, scratching at the scalp, and enjoying the little moans of pleasure that Tony couldn't silence._

 

_Slowly, like Tony was a precious gift that the man didn't want to spoil or ruin, his hand found its way to Tony's chin, and gently he made Tony raise his face._

 

“ _So beautiful.”_

 

_The fingers kept stroking Tony's chin, and every inch of skin they could reach without losing their gentle grip. Clint could see that Tony was trying to look away, not used to be praised, not even after years with Clint himself and Phil. But The Captain wasn't having any of that. He kept his blue eyes locked on Tony's and, after a bit, Tony stopped fighting and looking for a way out._

 

“ _Are you mine, Tony?”_

 

_Usually Clint would have screamed that they weren't in the Dark Age anymore, that a sub had the right to refuse a bond and he wasn't giving Tony that chance, he was assuming that Tony was going to be his without even asking, but the words died in his throat, and not only because Soldier was squeezing his throat, hard, threatening him silently. There was something in Tony's eyes, something that he had never saw there._

 

_Tony wanted to be his. Tony needed to be owned, and the man in front of him was strong enough to fight Howard in his mind. It was clear to Clint, but non less heartbreaking._

 

“ _Yes, Sir.”_

 

_Something had changed in The Captain's posture as soon as the words left Tony's mouth. In a moment, the man was scooping Tony bridal style. Tony looked weightless in his arms, showing how strong The Captain was, and once again, while the man walked away with Tony in his arms, giving his men the order to finish their job and retreat, Clint was filled with fear for Tony, because God only knew what a man so strong could do to Tony._

 

_The last thing Clint remembered before the darkness embraced him was the gaze in Phil's eyes, full of his own fears and doubts._

 

Clint jumped from the bed, and yes, he was laying on a bed, so maybe the room wasn't exactly a cell, or a very comfortable one, and began to scream. He was screaming for someone of those assholes to show their faces. He was screaming for Tony. He was screaming for Phil. He was screaming because it was the only thing he could do, and it helped him to fight the panic. The last time he didn't know where his Dom was, he had almost been killed in Budapest, and Clint couldn't think about losing Phil. Not again.

 

***

 

Phil woke up slowly. Everything in his body was hurting, and for a moment his mind didn't recognize medical.

 

His head and chest hurt and burnt at the same time, and Phil could taste the unpleasant feeling of oversleep in his mouth. He had been in surgery, and suddenly he remembered why.

 

_He had watched with terror The Captain, one of the most wanted men in the world, an enemy of America and free countries, walking away with Tony, and he couldn't allow that to happen, like he couldn't let the Soldier keep touching Clint._

 

_In a moment he had made his decision, and hoped that Clint would read his body language in the right way. The scream of the Soldier, probably more because he was surprised and not because of the actual pain of the knife piercing the skin of his shoulder, where the metallic arm connected with the flesh, made The Captain turn._

 

_Clint had been free for only a moment before more HYDRA men arrived in the hangar, and more bullets were shot, Phil really didn't want to think that Clint was alive only because the Soldier had taken him from the fire line, claiming back his prisoner._

 

_Phil had tried to go for Tony, he had tried to go after The Captain, even between the bullets, but the man was no match for anyone in the room. His strength alone had surprised and shocked everyone. He could still feel The Captain's fingers around his throat, and he was pretty sure if he asked for a mirror, he would have seen those prints marking his skin._

 

_He could still feel the air leaving his body when The Captain had thrown him like he was as light as a feather, and the wall he had hit had practically broken. He still could feel the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. He still didn't know for sure what had been wrong with him, but because of the pain he could almost bet that he had suffered internal bleeding and at least a punctured lung._

 

_But it wasn't the pain that was making him shake even now. It was the memory of Clint's scream of pain when the Soldier carried him away while he was losing consciousness. It was Tony's scream, his begging The Captain not to hurt Phil and Clint. It was the memory of Tony promising his new Dom everything just to save them._

 

He tried to get up, even if his head was hurting like a motherfucker, and the room was spinning so fast the Phil was sure he was going to throw up.

 

“Don't be an idiot, Cheese. You will stay in bed as long as it'll take you to drive every doctor working for me crazy.”

 

Fury looked tired, and paler than usual. His life vest was stained with blood, and he didn't have his coat. Whatever happened, had been bad. Worse than Phil was thinking.

 

“How many losses?”

 

“Too many, Agent Coulson. Too many, and I already have the WSC and the Army demanding to know where the fuck Tony Stark is. We lost access to any TVC in this place Phil. I don't have any idea what the hell happened in the hangar. You are the only survivor...”

 

“Is... is Clint between...?”

 

“Agent Barton is in MIA, Coulson. Now tell me what the hell happened in the hangar...”

 

MIA, Clint wasn't between the bodies in the hangar. He was probably a prisoner of HYDRA, and even if maybe, and just maybe he was still alive that didn't mean he was OK. And he had another problem. He wasn't sure if he could trust Fury, not after what he saw.

 

“Director, what happened to the Army men?”

 

Fury was starting to lose his patience with Phil. He wanted answers and wanted them yesterday, but he knew the man too well to know that ordering him around wasn't going to work, so he decided to humor his Senior agent, at least for now.

 

“They were between the first casualties today...”

 

Something in the way Fury said that made it clear to Phil that he was lying, again. Not that he really cared for the two men, but Fury made the decision for him, confirming what he sadly already suspected.

 

“When I arrived in the hangar with Tony, Soldier was already there, he had Clint and proposed to me an exchange. When I shot the fuel at his back and tried to reach the secret door I sadly realized that The Captain was there to...”

 

Fury was now as white as a ghost. It was the first time the The Captain had been seen on the field after he had taken HYDRA.

 

“Does he have Stark?”

 

“Who do you think threw me against a wall on the other side of the hangar?”

 

“We have a problem, a huge one, and we better to solve it before CSW and other people put their noses where they don't belong...”

 

“Director...”

 

“You are still in charge of The Captain case, Coulson. And now, you have two more reasons to take that bastard down. Because you want Clint and Stark back, right?”

 

Of course he wanted them back. Clint was his, his bond mate and collared sub, and he needed to know that Tony was safe. So yes, he was going to hunt down The Captain and Soldier, and whoever dared to cross his path, but he was going to do that alone, because the two people he trusted were gone, and he wanted them back.

 

***

 

Tony woke up slowly. He was in a beautiful room, the bed he was laying on was old fashioned, and comfortable. It smelt like old spices and warmth. If Tony would dare, he would have said it smelled like home, but the problem was that it wasn't his home. He didn't even know where he was and that confused and scared him. The last time he woke up somewhere he didn't know he ended up with an Arc Reactor in his chest.

 

He knew, in the back of his mind that he should be already panicking now, but for some strange reason he wasn't. He was scared, but he was wrapped in a peace that he never felt before. His chocolate eyes looked around, and they found him, the reason of that strange sensation.

 

The Captain, Tony was sure it was him, because eyes like that you can't forget, even if he never saw his face before, was sat on an armchair, was close to the bed, and was looking at Tony. And his eyes weren't cold and mean, they were warm, and full of love, and Tony hated that because he didn't want that gaze to change, he didn't want to lose that love, but he was sure he was going to once his Dom found out the truth about him.

 

His face belonged to a masterpiece of art. He was the most beautiful things Tony had ever seen in his life, and he knew that right now probably even Michelangelo was jealous of such beauty.

 

The Captain raised slowly, like he was worried that any harsh movement was going to spook Tony so much that the sub could disappear on him, and sat on the bed, as close as Tony as possible, but without touching him.

 

The Captain didn't know if it was because he had made his sub wait for so long, or if something had happened to Tony while he wasn't there to protect him, but he had saw the fear in his chocolate eyes when he had dropped on his knees for him, and swore to himself to never scar the sub again.

 

“So beautiful...”

 

The Captain had whispered those words, his emotions too strong to stay silent longer, and he realized that Tony had heard him only when his eyes became even bigger if possible; then Tony looked away, and The Captain's eyes were rewarded with the view of his long neck. The skin there looked so delicate, flawless, and begging to be marked and tasted, but it was too soon and he wasn't an animal, so even if the only things in the world he wanted right now was to cover Tony's body with his own, and claim the sub, to show the world that he was taken now, and that no one else was going to touch him ever again, even if the only thing he wanted was to kiss his mouth, and learn his taste, to kiss every inch of his body and learn how he sounded when moaning in pleasure. The Captain simply touched the exposed skin with the tips of his fingers, and when Tony shivered and a light pink colored the neck and the tip of his ear, he smiled.

 

“Don't... don't say that. Not beautiful. Damaged... used...”

 

Tony knew he had to tell The Captain the truth before it was too late, he knew the man was going to leave him without closing the bond, and that was going to kill his soul, but if he waited,, if he allowed the bond to be whole, and then he lost his Dom, Tony knew he wasn't going to survive. Not this time.

 

But he also knew he couldn't tell him the whole truth. He couldn't talk about what happened when he was a child with someone he didn't know, and even if his body and soul trusted The Captain with all the power of something so ancient and obscure as the bond, his mind couldn't let go of that secret, not until the man proved that he was worth the trust. And Tony really didn't believe that The Captain was going to stay around that long.

 

Tony got rid of his dress shirt, hating every second of that, and wondering where his jacket had been lost. He hated his life, he hated the world, he hated the he was going to lose his Dom now that he had finally found him.

 

He tore the last few buttons of the shirt, and closed his eyes. His chest was exposed now. Everything was exposed.

 

The scars, the cuts and everything that had marked him in the past, and above all the ugly piece of metal in the center of his chest.

 

Tony wondered if The Captain was going to tear the Arc Reactor off, disgusted by its presence, he wondered what it could feel like, to have your heart ripped off your chest by the man that was supposed to love and protect him.

 

But instead of pain or harsh words, all that Tony received was a gentle caress, and when he opened his eyes he really thought he was dead already, because The Captain was touching him and his scars like he was still something precious and beautiful. He was caressing the red and disgusting skin around the Reactor with so much care that Tony could feel the tears forming in his eyes.

 

“Does it... does it hurt?”

 

Tony never expected that question, or the kindness that he could see in The Captain's eyes.

 

“All the time.” He answered even before his mind could form a lie or find a way to change the subject.

 

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” The Captain's voice was so gentle that for a moment Tony had to wonder if the man wasn't really interested in what had happened to him, and for some strange reason that Tony was going to blame on the bond and the stress of the day, he told him the story of his months in Afghanistan.

 

“I was, I was presenting some new weapons to the Army, in Afghanistan. Usually I never go around, I prefer to stay in my lab and create things. I'm good creating things, but I don't build weapons anymore...” Tony was silent for a moment, expecting The Captain to complain and order him to go back to doing what he hated.

 

“The convoy that was taking me from one base to another, or back to the airport, I don't even remember, was attacked by terrorists.” This time the other man hissed, and Tony wasn't sure if he was upset by what he just said or mad because a sub wasn't supposed to go around sponsoring weapons.

 

“The group wanted me, but they probably wanted me in one piece, because after they killed the man in the car with me, let a grenade fall too close to me. When I woke up I was in a cave...”

 

_Tony woke up somewhere. It was dark, and dirty, and everything hurt, and Tony needed a few minutes to realize he was laying on a bed, or something similar. The think smelled of sweat and something else that Tony really didn't want imagine, and he wasn't alone._

 

_The man with him, Tony couldn't see him well, because the light of the only candle in the place was too weak, told him where he was, and that he knew him, but Tony couldn't remember when they had met. And then the man, Yinsen, told him about what he did to him, and only after the man had told him why he was in so much pain, Tony realized that there was a car battery attached to something deep into his chest._

 

_And that had been only the beginning of his nightmare. The terrorists wanted him to remake a perfect replica of the Jerico. They wanted to use it against the US Army, and kill as many men as possible. Soldiers, there to protect the civilians and try to make things right in a Country that was totally destroyed. They were going to kill boys there only to pay for their college or University fees, because they couldn't go against the high ranks, so they decided to slaughter whoever they could. Tony wasn't going to let that happen. He wasn't going to be responsible for the dead of so many._

 

“ _Do you think you are innocent? Do you think you are better than us, Tony Stark?” They had asked that question again and again. Every time he refused to build the missile, every time they kicked him and punched him, every time they they threatened him to take the battery that were keeping him alive. But even that hadn't been hell._

 

_The hell had began one night when the men had come to the small room he shared with Yinsen. The man was telling him about his family. About his Domme, a beautiful woman who had married him, and given him two children he had loved like nothing else in life. Tony had listened him talking about his family, and had promised to himself that he was going to help Yinsen to come back to his family. And then he had realized that he didn't have anyone to come back to, and that had broken his heart a little bit more. But then they had come into the room, and hell began._

 

_They had taken both himself and Yinsen, and took them in another room, a room that Tony had never seen before. It was the leader's room. Bigger than any other place in the cave, and divided in small rooms by curtains, like a tent from the ancient tales of magic and love Afghanistan had had in its past. And there were chains and cuffs in the middle on the main room. Chains and cuffs that were used on Tony after the clothes were taken from him, tore from his body while he tried to fight their hands._

 

_They stripped Yinsen too, but he didn't get to be chained. He didn't get to be blocked with metal and leather because his hands weren't as precious as Tony's. They threw him on the ground, and two of them stepped on his hands, pinning him and stopping him from moving._

 

“ _This is what happens when subs don't do what a Doms demand from them.”_

 

_With that they started to hit Yinsen with kicks so vicious that soon the man began to scream, and beg for mercy._

 

_Tony began to scream for them to stop too. He screamed for them to have pity, he screamed that they really didn't want the other man, they wanted him, they were mad because he refused to build them their weapons. He screamed to them to vent their rage and frustration on him, but no one listened to him. And when Tony had thought that they were going to kill Yinsen, the only person in a very long time to show him any real friendship, their leader smirked at Tony wickedly. The other men stopped hitting Yinsen, and stepped back, all but the two that were still pinning him to the ground._

 

“ _And this is going to happen again, and again, if you keep denying us. This is your fault, Merchant of Death.”_

 

_He raped Yinsen, and laughed. He laughed because he knew it was the first time the man had ever been taken like that, he laughed because of the blood that started to drip from his torn passage, and he laughed because Tony kept asking for forgiveness to the man, telling him how sorry he was._

 

_After that first night Tony accepted to work on the Jerico. He accepted to do everything in his power to keep Yinsen safe, but day after day the gentle man retreated deeper and deeper into his mind. The only moments when he was present were the moments he spent helping Tony. The only moments when he was alive again were the moments spent listening to Tony talking about the body armor he was building right under their noses, the armor he was going to use to save both of them, so that Yinsen could come back to his family._

 

_The man never told him that his family was gone. Only when he was dying, and was finally happy again, Yinsen told Tony the truth, and begged him not to waste his life now that he was going to come back to his world alive._

 

“It turned out that my own Boards weren't happy with their CEO being a sub, and thy sold me to the terrorists. The never thought they'd see me alive again, and when I came back, fired them all, sold them to the CIA and FBI both, and shut down the production of weapons in SI, I did that for Yinsen.”

 

Tony found himself wrapped in his Dom's arms, while the man was gently rubbing his back, soothing him like not even Phil had ever been able to do. After a long time, the man let him go, and carefully helped an exhausted Tony to lay down again.

 

“Can I?”

 

Tony didn't understand the question until he felt The Captain's lips brushed the scars around the Reactor, and the light tip of a tongue lap at the scars all around him. He was frozen in fear because he never allowed anyone to touch the Reactor, he never allowed anyone anywhere near it, but with the blond man who was lavishing him in attention and kindness not even once the thought that he could use to hurt him, to kill him even, crossed his mind.

 

“Cap...”

 

“Steve, my name is Steve, Tony.”

 

“Steve.” Tony repeated the name a couple of time, and he liked how the word rolled on his tongue. He liked the way it filled his mouth.

 

“I like how my name sound when you says it.”

 

“Thank you... Sir.” And that was it. Steve kissed him, stealing the air from his lungs, demanding Tony's surrender, claiming every inch of that wet heaven, and stopping only when his lungs were bursting with lack of air.

 

A light knock on the door ruined the moment for both of them. For Tony, because for the first time in always, wanted a Dom, _his_ Dom, to claim his body and fuck him into the mattress. And for Steve because he needed more time with his sub, he needed more time to hold him, and kiss him, and make love to him possibly all night.

 

“Try to rest, Tony, I know you have had a hard day... I'll be back... soon, I promise.”

 

The simple idea to be alone with his thoughts, after what had happened, and after what he just remembered, terrified him, and suddenly he remembered that yes, he really was alone, because Clint wasn't there, and Clint was the one he always looked for when he didn't want to be alone. And he realized that Clint and Phil, his family, could be dead.

 

Tears that Tony couldn't control stained his face.

 

“Are they... are they... safe?”

 

Steve looked at his sub for a moment before to understand who he was talking about.

 

“I'll have someone taking Hawkeye here while I'll be gone...” He didn't say a word about Phil, but Tony knew better than asking again.

 

At least Clint was alive, and he was allowed to see him. He was going to find out about Phil, he was going to find a way, and he was going to find a way to reunite his family once again was it the last thing he could do in his life.

 


	13. Chapter 13

XIII

 

As soon as the door opened and Clint was shoved into the room, Tony practically flew from the bed into his arms.

 

“Are you OK?”

 

“Oh God, are you OK?”

 

The two subs were talking at the same time, both worried for the other, and happy to be together again after what seemed like an eternity. Only when the door was locked again, and they knew they were alone, Tony actually lead Clint to the bed, and had him to sit down, so the two of them could curl up and talk, like they had done thousands of times back at the tower.

 

“Are they treating you OK? Please tell me they didn't hurt you, Clint.”

 

Clint was still a little bit surprised that the Soldier actually took him to Tony, when he had seen the man in his cell, or room, or whatever you want to call the place where he was kept, he really had thought that the man was going to take him for an interrogation, and he had worked for SHIELD long enough to know what type he was going to face with HYDRA. Instead the man had taken him to Tony, and it looked like the genius was fine, it looked like no one had touched him. Then Clint realized that Tony was still shirtless, and Tony simply didn't do shirtless, not after Howard, and not after Afghanistan.

 

“Tony?” He knew that the other man recognized his tone, but he didn't care, he was worried, and he wasn't going to hide it.

 

“I'm fine, really Clint. I'm fine. I don't know why, but I am, and I asked you first.”

 

“They didn't hurt me Tony, or touch me, or question me, they only put me into a room, and left me there, and I don't understand them, because when you put your hands on an enemy, you usually want to tear him apart, and learn every possible information about him, but not this time, and I think this is even worse.”

 

Clint was talking so fast that for a moment Tony was afraid he finally infected him with his fast talking disease; and the only reason that he could think about to explain Clint's behavior was that he was panicking and didn't know how to calm himself. He needed Phil.

 

“Clint.” Tony tried to call his name, and actually made him focus, but the archer was probably too far gone for that. “Clint, listen to me...” and still the blond wasn't answering, so Tony did the only thing he knew was going to shock Clint enough to make him stop. He kissed Clint. It was just lips against lips, cracked because of the narcotic used on Clint, and because neither of them had had anything to drink in a long time, but it was a real presence, and it was enough to break Clint's state.

 

“What the hell was that?”

 

Tony laughed before he answered. “That, my dear friend, was my way to shut you up, you were giving me a headache, and I am supposed to be the one giving headaches to people just talking. Now that we solved that... What's wrong?” Tony's voice was deadly serious, it changed so fast that only who knew him well could say what was in his mind now.

 

“I... Phil.” The archer couldn't find words to name his fears and everything that was going on in his mind, he only hoped that Tony could understand.

 

“What about him, Clint? You have to talk to me, I can't read your mind...”

 

“He's hurt, Tony, or at least I think he is. The last thing I remember is that he hit the wall so hard I heard his bones crack. What... what if he's...” Clint couldn't finish his sentence.

 

Tony put a hand on his heart and waited for Clint to look at him. “What do you feel here?”

 

“Warmth, and love, and family, and I don't even know how you can feel family, because I know it's not an emotion or a feeling, but I don't have any other word for what I feel.”

 

Tony smiled, and his smile was real, and beautiful, and Clint had to wonder if Tony was smiling so freely because he finally belonged to someone.

 

“That's because Phil it's still there. You can feel him in your bond. You are not alone Clint, and that means that Phil is still there, and he's probably going to turn the world upside down to find you.”

 

Clint kept looking at Tony's hand over his heart for as long as eternity before the genius' words really registered into his mind. Phil was still there, with him. He could feel him, he wasn't alone. His Dom was still alive, and Tony was probably right – the man was going to destroy everything and everyone to have him back.

 

“You know, right, that he's going to help you too... if you want out, Phil and I will make sure...” He was going to keep talking, but Tony's body went rigid in his arms, which hadn't happened for a long time now.

 

“Tony? Are you really OK?”

 

Tony was silent for a few seconds and just scooted over, invading Clint's personal space and embracing him into an octopus embrace.

 

“Did it really happened Clint? I mean... I'm pretty sure it did... but I'm not sure that I wasn't dreaming. Something like that doesn't happen to someone like me...”

 

“You mean that something like that doesn't happen to someone as great as you are Tony... right? Because I really don't want to cover all over again how much I dislike when you talk little about yourself.”

 

“Yes, because I'm such a good catch. I'm scared to death by Doms with power, I'm the worst sub

 

“Do you want out, Tony?”

 

***

 

Soldier was pacing in the room like a lion in the cage. He knew it. He had known since the beginning that Stark was going to be a pain in the ass, but that was beyond his imagination. He had seen Stark drop on his knees with his own eyes, and still he couldn't believe that after so long his friend had found his sub in someone like Howard's son.

 

He wasn't happy, and everyone knew that.

 

He almost jumped when he felt his friend behind his back, and cursed, because he didn't have idea how much he had missed from the conversation between Stark and the blond archer. For a moment the air in the room was motionless, and the tension was so thick that it was almost hard to breath.

 

“No.”

 

Stark's voice was almost only a whisper, but both Soldier and The Captain heard him, and maybe, at least for now tragedy was evaded.

 

“What is this about, Soldier?”

 

“You mean why I called you here, when you were getting cozy with your sub? Do you remember right that you lead a secret organization, and that your scientists want to put their hands on Stark. They need you to tell them what's going on... and you really should do something if you want to have a chance with Coulson.”

 

“So, you took me from my sub, the same sub I waited for more than 70 years – and who was telling me the horror he had to survive alone, because I was too busy being what I am to look for him – and now you want me to...”

 

“I want you to do what you were born to do, Captain. I want you to win this fucking war that is going on for too long now, and finally change things for us all. I want you to be yourself. Your sub is safe. You already started the bond because the kiss I saw was worth even more than simply beginning a bond, you were going to claim him there and then, and that would have been hot, but you have all the time you want now. You can't forget that you have other responsibilities...”

 

“Soldier, shut up. I still remember when you found your sub, and I still remember that you almost let her killing you because you were so lost in her that you didn't even realize she was still holding her gun to you. I was there and I saw one of the most dangerous women in the world drop on her knees for you, with your blood still on her hands, and I was there when you ignored orders and disappeared with her for three days. I thought she had killed you at some point. So don't tell me what is expected from me, because believe me, I'm perfectly aware of that, and I'm perfectly aware of how long ago this was began, and what I lost because of it.”

 

“Listen, I know that you need him, I know that all you want in this life is to make things right for him, to chase everyone who hurt him, and I know that because I felt the same, I still feel the same, every time she wakes up screaming because of a nightmare, every time she flinch because she's so lost in her thoughts and I touch her, but you are a soldier, and you are our leader. And yes, he needs you now, but we need you too. You have to find a balance or you are going to lose your focus, and now that we are so close it would be a sin for you to let this opportunity go.”

 

Steve was quiet for a little time before he spoke again. It wasn't like he didn't understand his friend's concerns, and he also knew that a big part of them were because of who Tony was, but he couldn't leave his sub alone, not now.

 

“Don't forget what happened to the last man who underestimated me, soldier. I'm not going to betray this cause, I'm not weaker because I finally found Tony, I'm stronger because now I have someone I will do anything to protect. Is that clear?”

 

The Soldier could only nod, and let it go, because he knew when a cause was lost. He could only hope that the other man really knew what he was doing?”

 

***

 

“No?”

 

Tony shook his head. “No, Clint, I don't want an out. I want him, I had wanted him since the day I found out I was a sub, and this is scaring me to death, but I can't give this up, whatever it is that we have.”

 

Clint could understand what Tony was feeling, he knew well the feeling to finally meeting your Dom, the feeling of finally being home. And he could understand Tony's fear. What he couldn't understand was everything else.

 

“You didn't stop the beginning of the bond...” How could he have missed that? All the signals were there, and Clint had missed them.

 

“It... it was a little bit of an accident Clint. I told him about Afghanistan, about what happened...”

 

The archer was totally shocked. “You... you fool man. You wanted to push him away, right?” Tony had at least the grace to blush; Clint knew him all too well.

 

“And instead something happened and you didn't stop the beginning of the bond. What was that? You have to tell me, subs brotherhood and everything.”

 

“He didn't try to hurt me. He kissed the Reactor and the scars around this monstrosity, and then he kissed me, and everything was perfect Clint. For once in my life everything was perfect. Nothing else mattered anymore. Not Howard, not the Army and their bullying for weapons, not my board members. Everything was perfect because he was the only thing that mattered in my world, and I was happy.”

 

Clint hoped that Tony's Dom could have an idea of how precious that was for Tony, and promised to make sure that he never, ever hurt Tony, or he was going to kill him, slowly and painfully.

 

***

 

Phil was still in medical when his phone rang. The doctors and nurses left him alone after he made clear that it didn't matter about the amount of pain he was in, he wasn't going to take any drug that could put him down. He needed to be vigil. He had two subs to find, and wasn't going to let his injuries to slow him down more than strictly necessary.

 

“Mr. Coulson? I hope that your injuries aren't serious enough to keep you from talking...”

 

Phil froze for a moment before his long training kicked in. He could recognize the voice and knew who was on the other side.

 

“You only broke some of my ribs, Captain... so as long as you don't make me laugh I should be fine talking to you... the only question is; why should I?”

 

“Because I know you are going to look for your sub, I know you aren't going to quit until you find me, and him, and I have a feeling that you won't quit until you find my sub too... but that's something we are going to address in another moment... I'm just here to make you an offer...”

 

“Where are they? Are the OK?”

 

“Clint is with my sub right now, and no one is going to touch him. But you know how things go in this world, that could change in the blink of an eye... it's up to you to make sure he's safe...”

 

“What do you want?” Phil knew he was trapped. He knew he was going to make sure nothing could happen to Clint and Tony, no matter what that meant for himself.”

 

“Meet me, Agent Coulson, in a place where your friends of SHILED can't follow you.” Phil almost laughed on his face. Friends, that was a very bad joke, he had had time to think in the hours he spent awake and in so much pain than a lesser man would have screamed and begged for death. He already knew there was a mole in SHIELD, but that couldn't have been enough to make them fall so bad. He had begun to think that the depth of the plot was bigger than he ever thought.

 

“And what's going to happen when I'll be in your secret place? If I accept to come of course...”

 

“Nothing is going to happen. We are simply going to have a long conversation. I'll show you my point, and I hope we can reach an understanding. You are an intelligent and loyal man, and I simply want to show you that your trust is misplaced right now...”

 

Phil knew that it was stupid to accept, he knew that the right thing to do would have been finding Fury and telling him about the call, and let the man organize a security detail to catch The Captain and his men, but he also knew that probably the man was still spying on them, and he couldn't endanger Clint or Tony in any way.

 

“Tell me where and when.” He could only hope he just didn't the biggest mistake of his whole life.

 

“Someone will take you tonight, be ready Agent Coulson... and if I can give you a suggestion, take some painkillers, you don't need to be a hero, and the trip will be long...”

 

Phil, of course, looked around, trying to understand where the bug could be. He knew it, he knew that HYDRA was having free access to the HQ.

 

***

 

Tony was quiet, too quiet, and Clint knew that the genius' mind was probably spinning so fast that no one else but Tony himself could follow, and if that was the truth, Clint knew that it was because he figured out something that everyone else was still ignoring.

 

Then Tony jumped from the bed like it was on fire, and began to pace in the room and breath heavily, like when he was close to a panic attack, and that scared Clint because usually it was Phil who was able to make Tony calm down enough to avoid the attack.

 

“Tony?”

 

“Why are you here, Clint? Why did they take you too?” Clint was a little confused by the question, and honestly didn't have an answer, but he also wasn't really sure that Tony was expecting an answer from him.

 

“Can't you see? Can't you see, Clint?”

 

“Tony, you are the genius here, I'm only the archer, and a former circus boy. Can you please speak English with me and explain?”

 

“They want Phil. I don't know why, but they want Phil. That's why you are here. They are going to use you to get Phil, and he's going to come because he can't leave without you. So I have to find a way to make you escape, because I can't live thinking that I endangered you both.”

 

Clint was by his side in a moment. He wasn't going to let Tony torture himself and blame himself for something that for sure wasn't his fault and that above all didn't happen yet.

 

“Tony, do you really think that if I wasn't here, or even that if somehow you'll find a way to make me escape, Phil and I won't come back for you? Do you really think that we could live our lives like you never were a part of that?”

 

“It doesn't make sense, Clint, it doesn't. Everything is moving so fast, everything is screaming and talking, and I can't follow. Too much data, Clint, too much, and my math alone is not enough.”

 

Clint had seen Tony in that state only once. He knew that Tony's mind was basically a very advanced computer, and sometimes emotions overwhelmed him. Because Tony was great with numbers and everything that was science, but no one ever taught him how to be human and how to deal with feelings, and sometimes the whole system crashed, and Tony didn't know how to handle that.

 

“Tell me Tony. Talk to me. I can try to help. Just keep talking to me, love, OK?”

 

“They want Phil. The attack was too fast, Clint. They had information about us all. They know that Phil is going to do everything to take you back, and they know that because they know how deep your bond is, they know that you are collared and bonded. They knew how to enter SHIELD. They totally destroyed all the defense in too little time...”

 

“A mole. Is that that you are trying to say, Tony?”

 

“A mole. There is a mole in SHIELD. Someone who gave them all the information, someone who is bonded to a very high member of HYDRA, because they wouldn't trust anyone else.”

 

“I met Soldier, Tony, I know he's a Dom... do you think he could have his sub as a mole? Do you think that he would risk that?”

 

“He knew he wasn't risking anything, Clint. The mole is perfectly able to take care of herself. She's able to work her way into SHIELD because she knows how organizations like that work, and she's more than able to take SHIELD down without breaking a sweat.”

 

“Tony? You are talking like you know perfectly who the mole is.”

 

“She tried to trick us all. She always was too strange for me, she never looked right, and I was so stupid that I didn't see that clearly until now. I can't allow you to go back. I can't because she's still there, and I can't let you stay because they are going to trap you and Phil. What do I do, Clint? What do I do?”

 

“Who is she Tony? Tell me that, and then we'll try to look for a solution.”

 

“Don't you see Clint? It's Natasha. She never was a Domme, she's a sub, and she belongs to The Soldier, or someone high in the ranks here. And she never was in any danger because she's the Black Widow, and she never stopped to work for HYDRA.”

 

Clint wanted to believe that for once Tony was wrong, he really wanted to believe that the woman wasn't a mole, and a fraud, but the truth was that what Tony just said made sense.

 

The only thing he could do was to take Tony into his arms, and trying to calm him down, even if the genius had began to talk in languages that Clint didn't know.

 

It was then that his instinct kicked in, and his eyes saw the small camera, so well hidden that only because his sight was his own superpower he was able to locate it.

 

“Are you fucking going to send his Dom, you bastards?”

 

Clint had no idea who he was talking to, who was watching them, but he hoped that his message reached The Captain fast. If the man wasn't going to be able to calm Tony down, he swore to find a way to take both of them back to Phil.

 

The door opened a few minutes later, but it wasn't The Captain who stormed into the room and grabbed Clint, tearing him from Tony.

 

“You and I are going to have a small chat, Hawkeye.”

 

The Soldier wasn't happy, and that made Clint realize that Tony had been right, again.

 

“Wait... wait you can't... he can't be alone now...”

 

The Soldier didn't even give him time to finish his sentence, and took him away without a second gaze for Tony.

 

***

 

Tony was alone, and his mind was betraying him all over again. One of the reason Howard had hated him so much was because his mind had always been stronger, and faster, and his genius brighter than Howard's, since the beginning.

 

He tried, he tried to keep Howard's voice away, but watching Clint dragged away from the room, and after everything that happened in the day, he was ready to break, and Howard always was too close when he didn't have any way to defend himself.

 

His own clothes had become a prison, and his skin felt like thousands of ants were walking on him.

 

“ _What are you doing still dressed? Did you already forget MY rules?”_ Howard voice was so full of hate that Tony felt the need to hide under the bed. 

 

“ _Just because someone else lied to you, telling you that you are worth more than a hole good to be fucked, you became full of yourself. You are only worth your price in a bed, boy, and he'll know. He'll know you are my whore.”_

 

Tony, totally naked, reached a corner in the room, as far away as possible from the door, and kneeled there, facing the wall, because it was the way that Howard always had wanted him. Totally unprepaired for when the man was going to show into his room, defenseless over everything that the man had in mind for his own son.

 

Tony's posture had been the perfect picture of submission, Howard had been sure of that. He had been sure to teach Tony how to behave properly, how to show his nature to everyone. He had been sure to brand into Tony's mind and soul the concept that he was a weak and pathetic creature, good only for one thing.

 

The door opened, and for a few moments Tony didn't hear anything but the rush of his blood into his ears.

 

“Tony?”

 

The genius kept his head bowed, and his eyes fixed on the floor. He knew better than to move. He had learned the lesson well. He knew that Steve wasn't like Phil. Phil never touched him, because he was bonded to Clint. But Steve owned him body and soul. Tony knew what was going to happen, and knew how to behave to please his Dom.

 

“Tony?”

 

He didn't understand why Steve was keep calling his name. Was it a test, was he trying to see if he was well trained? It could be possible that Steve wanted the prove that even if older than the majority of subs finding their Doms for the first time, he had been taught how to behave. He closed his eyes trying to keep his body perfectly still. He needed to be perfect, he needed to show Steve that even if he was broken and used, he had learned how to be a good sub, that he was worth the effort to keep him, even if only for the sex.

 

***

 

Steve was frozen on the door of his room. His sub was in a corner, facing the wall, and Steve remembered all too well when he was still a skinny boy from Brooklyn, a Dom that no one took seriously because of his look.

 

He had saw subs treated as objects, forced to be naked all the time, always ready to be used and assaulted. When his body had been changed, when he had thought he could make a difference, he realized that the army wasn't different.

 

He still remembered when he and Howard had been invited in the room of the General for the first time, when he had had another name, a name that had been synonymous of freedom. His sub, a beautiful brunette had been in the room with them. Naked, and in a corner, with her head bowed so deeply that had almost touched the floor. Totally humiliated and vulnerable, and under the eyes of strangers. And the General had thought that that was normal, the perfect way to treat a sub.

 

And now, after years, to see Tony, his Tony, like that, made his blood boil into his veins. He had tried to call his name, but Tony looked like his mind had been lost somewhere, and if Steve had learned something, he knew that wherever Tony was now, was hell.

 

Steve moved slowly towards Tony, and as gently as possible touched his hair. Trying to make him feel that he was safe, that nothing was going to happen, but when not even touching him draw any response from him, Steve realized that the only thing he could do was to really take things in his hands.

 

He scooped Tony like he had done only a few hours before, and took him to the bed. He could feel Tony's body going totally rigid in his arms, and knew the man was close to a panic attack.

 

“Sir?”

 

His voice was so small and lost, and Steve cursed himself for all the time he had lost. He put Tony on the bed, and tucked him under the blankets. He didn't know if Tony was shivering because he was told, or because he was on the verge of totally breaking, but Steve could think only about one thing. He undressed as quickly as possible, leaving only his boxers on, and followed Tony under the blankets, hugging the smaller man, and cradling him against his strong chest, paying attention to the reactor.

 

After a few moments of silence, Tony spoke again. “Sir? Did... did I do something wrong? Wasn't I good enough?”

 

“You are perfect, Tony. I just want you to rest... tomorrow we are going to talk, and I'm going to claim you.”

 

Steve didn't know why he said that, but suddenly Tony relaxed in his arms, like that had been the right thing to say. The only problem was that Steve wasn't sure about that. It felt like he just made a big mistake, and Tony was perfectly fine with that.

 

Tony become a small ball in his arms, and Steve realized the moment he had fallen asleep. Sadly he also realized because of his reactions that someone had hurt him. Someone had beaten the submission into his mind and body, and Steve couldn't even start to say how much he hated that thought.

 

“Who hurt you, Tony? Who hurt you my beautiful sub?”

 

The question had been spoken to the darkness, but Steve swore that he was going to find out. And there was going to be hell to pay.

 

 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for the long waiting. The next chapter... The Captain will claim Tony... hopefully it won't be so long ^^

XIII

 

“You bastard..” Clint threw himself at the Soldier as soon as the man closed the door of the new room that Clint had never seen before. He was pissed and worried, and Soldier was the only one he could vent with.

 

“You have no idea what you just did...” He wasn't going to give the man any weapons to use against Tony, but he was definitely going to make sure that the bastard knew exactly what he was in his eyes.

 

“I took you here to talk. Stark is not your problem anymore. And it's not like you can really do anything for him. You are sub yourself.”

 

“If you call me a sub to degrade me, you are sadly mistaken. I'm proud of who I am, and I'm proud to show my loyalty to my Dom... something that you'll never be able to say about your sub if Tony is right.”

 

The man called Soldier was silent for a moment, hit by Clint's words more than he cared to show.

 

“Your friend is too smart for his own good.”

 

So Tony had been right. Clint wasn't exactly surprised or hurt by that, he simply was worried, because God only knew how deep was HYDRA's infiltration into SHIELD is no one ever realized that one of the most lethal assassin in the world wasn't by their side at all. God only knew how deeply in danger Phil was, and he was trapped in an HYDRA facility without any hope to get free and help him.

 

“He's not smart. He's a genius. One of the most brilliant minds that human kind ever generated. If you think he's just 'smart', you won't be prepared for when his brilliance will explode in your face.”

 

“Even more intelligent than his father?”

 

The Soldier wanted to see what Clint thought about that, but he realized he probably had made a mistake when he saw Clint's face go totally pale and his body went so rigid that for a moment he thought Clint was going to snap and break like a fiddler cord.

 

“Don't you ever, _ever_ compare that bastard to Tony. Tony is nothing like him. Tony's inventions as a child alone could eclipse everything that Howard Stark ever achieved in his pitiful, pathetic life.”

 

Clint was shivering, his teeth almost grinding in his mouth, his voice a low growl. Whatever Howard Stark ever did to Clint Barton, it must have been hell to create that kind of reaction. The Soldier himself wasn't a stranger to reactions so strong – but in his case it would be because someone dared to talk about the Army's experiments on soldiers.

 

“What did he do?” Usually he wasn't a curious man. He was used taking orders and following them, but something was screaming in his bones that it was important information that he had asked for, and information was always going to be a very powerful currency of exchange.

 

“He hurt someone I love. He was an abomination, and no one stopped him in time. No one ever realized what he was until it was too late.”

 

The soldier was shocked by the hate and sorrow in Clint's words. The man he described was nothing like the man he had learned to know. He never had liked Stark much, but he never saw in him anything of what Clint was implying.

 

“You can keep trying to hide the name... but you know right that with Tasha where she is, with the power she go, it won't be hard for me to find out? SHIELD has the bad habit to keep track of everyone they are interested in, and their families...”

 

Clint paled even more. Natasha probably already knew, and that wasn't fair. It was only another violation of Tony's life.

 

“If you are half the man you think you are, you'll let it be, because it's not a story for you to know. It's not you who should know, and she's not the one who should tell you. She can be a spy, and absolutely incredible in what she does, but there are things that she shouldn't know. There are men that she shouldn't violate, because they are better than she'll ever be, and they deserve respect.”

 

***

 

Phil's room was in semi-darkness when a man he didn't recognize appeared on the door. His face was almost totally hidden, but the composure and his body language were screaming that he was at least well trained, by who and in what, Phil couldn't tell.

 

“You are very famous, Agent Coulson. And I would love to be the one to end your life.”

 

Hydra, and for some strange reason Phil wasn't even worried. He only wondered for a moment how many had been killed to allow the man access to his room, but not even that was important right now.

 

“But you are not stupid enough to break one of The Captain's orders, because you are afraid of him.”

 

“And you should be too. Do you think you know what he's able to do? You never saw him unleash his rage against an enemy, or punish one of his men who dared to break a direct order. If you think that your Director Fury is a dangerous man, know that he's a debutante compared to The Captain.”

 

Phil didn't doubt not even for a moment that that was the truth.

 

“Are you here to escort me somewhere, or do you want to take a seat and talk?” The Agent didn't answer his question, he simply stormed into the room, grabbed him and carried him along the empty corridors, and away from SHIELD without anyone trying to stop them.

 

It would have been a funny scene if Phil wasn't worried for Clint, and Tony, and the medical personnel that he couldn't see. Phil could imagine the face of people who knew him, looking while one of the most feared Senior Agents of SHIELD was dragged away half naked by a HYDRA agent who wasn't even trying to kill or restrain him at least.

 

“Where is everyone?”

 

“They are sleeping, Coulson. I didn't have time to kill them all, and I regret that.”

 

Phil could finally see the face of the man who was going to take him to The Captain, and Clint, possibly, and he realized that it wasn't the first time he saw him.

 

“You... you were an agent of SHIELD.”

 

An ugly smirk curved the corners of his mouth. The scars of burns were glistening into the night light.

 

“I was, until the moment I realized that all that SHIELD was going to do with me was using me until I lost my value. I realized that they weren't going to change the world, they were subdued to the existing powers, and were protecting them. I wanted more Coulson. I wanted to change the world, and take down the bastards that for too long occupied the places of power...”

 

“And Hydra gave you that?” Phil was genuinely curious. He never understood why anyone wanted to join an organization that had been so deeply tied to the Nazi, and the horrors they committed.

 

“Yes. HYDRA and The Captain gave me that They gave me a purpose. He's going to change the world. He won't bow in front of anyone. Not the Army, not the President, _anyone_. He was born to lead the world into a new era, into the real freedom, and he will do that.”

 

“It sounds like something that a tyrant would do.”

 

“You have no idea who he is, Coulson, don't even think you do.” The man really sounded like he truly and deeply believed in The Captain, and his crusade. He was passionate about being a part of something so big, and in the same time so dark.

 

In him Phil could recognize himself when he had joined SHIELD a long time ago. Were SHIELD and HYDRA so different? It had been so easy for HYDRA penetrate SHIELD, to make nests for itself into the higher ranks of the one organization that was supposed to be a defense against any threat to the world and its democracy. They were the two faces of the same coins, and Phil was confused now. He had always thought he knew for what he was fighting, he always thought he knew what was wrong and what was right, and now he wasn't so sure anymore. His whole world was crumbling around him, and Phil didn't know who he could trust anymore.

 

The black van that was expecting them just outside the HQ was like any other black van that SHIELD possessed, and once again Phil had to suppress a laugh. How screwed they really were if all that it was needed to kidnap a Senior agent was a black van?

 

“Do you? Do you really know him and who he is?”

 

The back door opened on a silhouette that was trying everything to stay hidden in the darkness of the van itself. This time Phil abruptly stopped to walk, and for a moment the other man almost tripped on his unmoving body. But Phil's surprise lasted only for a moment.

 

“I shouldn't be surprised, right Agent Romanov?” The woman only snorted, and signed his colleague to move faster. They didn't have all night.

 

The man pushed Phil to the back of the van, and Phil realized he still didn't answer his previous question, but that was Ok because Phil hadn't really expected an answer, like he didn't expect the needle stabbing his neck. In a few moments he was in a deep sleep, and totally unaware of what was going on, and where they were going.

 

***

 

Steve woke up slowly. That was strange. He was used to passing out from lack of sleep to awake in only a moment, and he wasn't used to feeling so disoriented. He was in his room, but something was different. Not wrong, just different. For a moment Steve thought he was still dreaming. He thought he was dreaming about finally finding his sub, about finally claiming him after almost seventy years of waiting and pining and sorrow. For a moment he was lost in pleasure, because never had one of his dreams been so real. Never so warm and perfect.

 

And then, Steve realized that it wasn't a dream, because the warmth of the mouth wrapped around his cock couldn't be a fantasy. Because the elegant, long and strong fingers that were caressing his balls, playing with them, and driving him crazy couldn't be more real.

 

Tony. Tony was hidden behind the blankets. Somehow he had been able to slide from his arms to between his legs without waking him up, and that alone had been a surprise. Steve remembered he had wore under-wear in bed last night, and now he was naked, and deep into his sub's mouth.

 

Steve knew that in any other day he would have been more than happy to wake up like that, with his sub sucking him like he couldn't survive without his flesh and cum deep inside him, but he could feel Tony shivering. Like he was too tense, or scared, or both. And that wasn't something he could accept.

 

He let his hands slip under the blankets, and find Tony's silky locks and interlaced his fingers with his sub's hair, stroking his head lovingly. “God, Tony. So good. Such a good boy for me.” His voice was broken by pleasure. Tony's mouth and tongue were making him lose control fast. It had been too long since someone had touched him like that, and his body was quickly reaching its limits. Tony's mouth felt so good, the determined pressure of his tongue was hitting the right spots, and every time that Tony let his cock slip from his mouth enough that only the mushroom head was still trapped, he used the right amount of teeth to lightly scratch before to take him back wholly. If Tony was trying to kill him he was doing an amazing job.

 

“Tony, baby. I'm...” Steve couldn't even finish his sentence before he felt Tony hollow his cheek and suck him even harder than before. Steve's fingers stiffened in Tony's hair, and even if he didn't want to he kept Tony's head in place while he came in his mouth. Every cell of his body was satisfied and blind with pleasure. Every muscle in his body tense and free. Steve was beautiful in his orgasm, but all he wanted now was to have Tony in his arms and kiss him, tasting his own taste in his sub's mouth.

 

“Come here, Tony.”

 

Slowly Tony emerged from the nest of blankets, leaving the comfort that being so close to his Dom had given him, and looked unsure and almost ready to run when Steve grabbed him and moved his body until he was satisfied with Tony being limp in his arms, and with his mouth close enough that Steve's own could claim him without moving any of them from the comfortable warmth their bodies were creating simply being that close together.

 

“Good morning, Tony.” Tony was so lost in the kiss, so shocked that it was even happening, that he almost missed his Dom's greeting. “Good morning, Sir.” It was just a whisper on Steve's lips before the other man claimed his mouth for another kiss.

 

***

 

Tony had woken early as usual, and for a moment had thought that the body pressed against his back was Phil's. It wouldn't have been the first time that he had slept between Phil and Clint, but something was different that morning.

 

Firstly, Clint wasn't anywhere to be seen, and secondly, Phil's body had never been so large or his smell so old spiced and comfortable. It was then that he had realized that he wasn't with Clint and Phil, but with his Dom, and he had panicked.

 

Steve didn't give him any rules, and that made Tony uncomfortable. What if Steve was going to be mad? What if he did something wrong, and his Dom was forced to punish him? Tony remembered all too well Howard's punishment, and even if Phil never had been so cruel and heartless, Tony really didn't know what kind of Dom Steve was going to be. So he did the only thing that he could think about. He did what Howard had trained him to do every morning.

 

Carefully, trying not to wake Steve up yet, he had slipped between Steve's legs. Steve was beautiful. His body was built like a Greek God, and his cock, even if still flaccid and covered by his boxers, looked perfectly proportioned. For a moment Tony had to wonder if he could fit it all into his mouth. It was so long since the last time he had sucked someone.

 

Slowly, he had freed Steve from his cotton prison, and closed his eyes, tension clearly readable in his body. He tried to remember that this was Steve, his Dom, not his father, and that Steve still didn't hurt him in any way, and maybe, just maybe, he wasn't going to hurt Tony if he was good.

 

Steve tasted good. Clean, and musky, and his weight was somehow comforting in Tony's mouth. He wasn't sure if his oral fixation was born because when he had sucked Howard the man didn't hurt him, or if it was something natural in him, but Tony thought for a moment that with Steve he could finally find out something more about himself.

 

He could taste the precum all over his tongue; maybe it was because of the bond, or maybe was his own nature, but Tony knew that he could get addicted to Steve's taste. He drank every drop of Steve's cum, and cleaned him lapping his cock with kittens like laps when Steve came in his mouth, but when Steve called him Tony got confused all over again.

 

Did he do something wrong? Wasn't he good enough? He couldn't understand Steve's behavior, but then Steve had kissed him as soon as Tony was back in his arms, and the genius lost hope to understand his Dom.

 

Howard had never kissed him after he finished to suck him. He never had wanted to taste himself in Tony's mouth, but it looked like Steve didn't have any problem with that.

 

Steve was moaning in Tony's mouth, and Tony couldn't suppress his own moans any longer. To think that he was the cause of Steve's loss of composure was enough to make Tony need more. He needed to do more to make Steve happy. And this he was sure it wasn't because of the bond, but the real Tony coming back. The real Tony was a sub to the core, a sub who needed to make his Dom happy to be whole.

 

But Then Tony committed the mistake to let down his defenses, even if just for a moment, and hadn't be ready to realize how close Howard had been, probably since the moment he had found his Dom.

 

“ _Do you think he'll be different? Do you think that he doesn't know you are used and broken? You'll always be my whore, it doesn't matter who you are in bed with, Tony, you'll always be mine.”_

 

Howard's voice was cruel, and cold, and Tony couldn't find in him the force to fight it. He never could, and without Phil he was utterly alone to fight a man who had totally destroyed him in the past. He couldn't tell Steve, he didn't know how, so Tony's body and mind did the only thing that they could do, They let the nightmare and panic engulf him.

 

***

 

Steve cursed. A moment before he was kissing his sub, and losing himself in the sensation of his mouth and the bond growing between them, a moment later the same bond that had been tentative and gentle, shocked him with pain and terror that weren't his own. Tony's body was rigid in his arms now, and his sub was silently crying. The bond was turmoil of desperation and fear, and Steve didn't know what to do. He was drowning in Tony's emotions, even if he knew that right now Tony needed him to be his anchor. Tony needed him to be the stronger one, the one who was going to take him back from the hell he lost himself into. But Steve didn't know where Tony was, he didn't know who hurt his sub like that, and for a moment he was mad, so mad that he didn't shield the bond fast enough, and Tony felt his rage. Unconsciously the body in his arms tried to escape, to be as far away from Steve as possible. It was a normal response dictated by fear. Tony had been hurt by someone full of rage, and Steve was making the same mistake. The blond man forced himself to calm down, he sent waves of love and calmness through the bond, and after a few minutes he felt Tony relax again in his arms.

 

Steve thought about what he knew of Tony. He was aware that he knew very little about his sub. He only had been aware of Tony being the only uncollared sub at the apex of one of the most important industry in the world; a world were even collared sub rarely reached the position of CEO in much smaller industries in truth. He had known that Tony was strong willed and a smart ass, and one of the most brilliant minds of the world. But now he had to wonder if maybe that wasn't just a facade to hide his vulnerability. Bile raised in his mouth when he realized that there was only a man who could answer that question. He always had been possessive and territorial, and the thought of another Dom knowing his sub better than him was unbearable for Steve. Of course there was another way. He could force Tony to tel him, he could force Tony to tell him everything about his past and his secrets, and the bond between them would make it impossible for Tony to hide the truth. But Steve didn't want to abuse that power. He just wanted Tony to trust him enough to come to him with the truth.

 

It was a long time before Tony finally calmed down. Time that Steve spent channeling feelings of safety and love to the bond, and in the end Tony laid in Steve's arms, in a cocoon of love and warmth that he never felt after his mother had passed away, and it was like that that Steve left him, curled up in a ball in the bed that smelled like the two of them, making sure to keep in eye on him throw the bond. But for now, even if all he wanted was to stay with his sub, and to make sure he was ok, he had to find Agent Coulson, and talk to him.

 

***

 

“I tried to call you.” Steve didn't jump when the Soldier came to his back while he was trying to drink a cup of coffee before the meeting with their guest.

 

“I was busy.” He didn't give any other explanation, and the Soldier looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

 

“What happened?” He asked, and his voice was low and serious. He was worried, and knew that whatever had happened had shaken The Captain both as a man, and as a Dom.

 

“Tony. He had... he had a meltdown. The pain and fear that I felt in the bond almost took my breath away. I never felt anything...”

 

“You couldn't have, Steve.” It was the first time in years that the Soldier had used his name, and Steve was glad for that. He needed his oldest friend, not a subordinate right now.

 

“You couldn't have because what a bond make you feel is something that is different from everything else. You can have the biggest empathy in the world, and you still would be powerless in front of a bond. And it's always worst when the pan and fear belong to your sub, to the one creature in the universe that you want and need to protect from everything. And I won't lie to you Steve. It doesn't matter that whatever caused those emotions and feelings is in the past. It doesn't matter because someone hurt your sub, and you will always want blood for that.”

 

“You feel the same.” It wasn't a question, it was just a statement, because finally, after years Steve really understood his friend. He finally understood why the man had destroyed more than one gym when he first met his sub. Now he could understand why he went alone to take down a whole base of the Red Room, even if they were basically allies in their war against the US Army.

 

“Yes I do. And I know it won't go away, Steve. It will only settle down when your mind will start to believe that now he's safe, that now that he's with you no one else will ever dare to touch him. But you'll always want to kill with your own hands whoever dared to hurt him, even if you can't kill ghosts.”

 

“And how do you survive without going insane?” The Soldier smiled and took a moment to think before to answer. “Just loving him. That's how.”

 

“I knew I kept you around for more than your pretty face, Bucky.” Steve left the room before the mug that Bucky was holding could hit him, and laughed when he heard it crash against the wall.

 

 

 

 

 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More Steve and Tony of course, but no claiming yet, I'm sorry. And Bucky will punish Natasha. It's something you don't do to your sub, so please if you have any trigger about a very harsh Dom doing something that could be emotionally Dangerous, don't read this chapter. 
> 
> I'm sorry this chapter was updated so late. I'll try to do better next time.

XV

 

Phil Coulson was an impressive Dom, even now, dressing with an hospital gown and as pale as a ghost, with dark circles under his eyes, he was still dominating the whole room from his seat. 

 

Natasha was pacing, it was clear that she was nervous. She gazed at Coulson and the other guy with them, “can you stop please, you are giving me motion sickness.” 

 

Coulson was watching their exchange without a word. 

 

“I shouldn't be here. I could keep doing my job infiltrating SHIELD. I don't understand why...” 

 

“Probably because Tony realized who you are.” The red-head froze and looked at Coulson as though he grew another head. 

 

“What do you mean?” 

 

Phil was tired, and he really didn't want to waste his time on something so obvious, but if Natasha really wanted to play, then he was ready. “Tony is a genius, and it was obvious, looking at what happened, that someone was working from the inside. You came from nowhere, charmed your way into SHIELD, posing as a Domme, and working twice as hard as any other agent I ever met. Looking at all of this from my perspective, it's clear that you were a mole.” 

 

“Stark? Stark is too busy hiding behind you and Clint to notice anything. If someone blew my cover it's not Stark.” 

 

Phil raised slowly. He still didn't trust his body, but for sure he wasn't going to let anyone to talk about Tony like that, not in front of him. 

 

“You think you know Tony Stark? You are making the same mistake that even Fury made. You think he's weak, and for that useless. But Tony Stark is probably one of the strongest men you'll ever meet in this life, and his mind alone is more than enough to send you and everyone who is stupid enough to be his enemy, to hell, and back...” 

 

“You always had a weak spot for Stark, Agent Coulson. Even if you are one of the best secret agents I ever met, you let Stark blind you. I tried to understand it you know? I tried to understand why all of you don't see what Stark really is. You and Clint are under his spell, and I still don't understand why.” 

 

“I always wondered something, Natasha, and finally I have the possibility to ask you. Why? Why do you hate Tony so much?” 

 

Coulson had always thought that Natasha's behaviour towards Tony was strange. he always thought that there was something weird in that, something that probably had its roots into Natasha's past, and now it was finally time to have answers, even if the woman didn't look very interested in the truth. 

 

“He should have learned his place. He's a sub, and he behaves like he owns the world, like he's better than what nature made him. He's weak, and hides his weakness behind his money, and now behind you and Clint, making you two weak too. He deserves to be tied to a bed, and taught a lesson once and for all...” 

 

“He deserves what I decide, Natasha. And if I ever hear you talk about my sub with the same tone, I'm going to teach you a lesson that you'll never forget.” 

 

Natasha froze, and every eyes in the room looked at The Captain. His body was hiding the door, and of the men behind him only the metal arm was visible. His eyes were cold as ice, and everything in him was screaming danger. Phil thought that, by the reaction of the people present, it was rare for anyone who wore the HYDRA symbols, to see their leader so murderous. 

 

“Take her away, Soldier, and don't let her cross my path anytime soon.” He dismissed the other man in the room too, and in a few moments he was alone with Phil Coulson, and too many thoughts about Tony. 

 

The silence only lasted a short while, and the two men used that time to study each other. Phil wasn't deceiving himself, he knew that the man in front of him was extremely dangerous, and smarter than enemy he ever faced, and he had the advantage to hold in his hands both Clint and Tony. He needed to be careful, and the only thing he could do was to find out what The Captain wanted, and try to come up with a plan. 

 

“Your mind is racing so fast I can see your brain spinning, Agent. And please believe me when I tell you that I had hoped to meet you in a different way. It's a long time that I've been following you, you are an interesting man, Phil Coulson.” 

 

Phil didn't look impress by The Captain's speech, he was more experienced than that, although he was curious. “Is this the moment I blush and thank you?” 

 

The Captain did the last thing that Coulson was expecting. He laughed, sounding genuinely amused, “oh no, Agent Coulson, please. I'm surrounded by people who try, day after day, to buy me, flattering me in any way possible. I like when someone is honest.” 

 

 

“Then, Captain, let's be honest here. I will never be by your side, I don't want to be by your side. We belong to different world, we follow different paths. I'm loyal to my country, and you, I don't even know what you are loyal to. The only reason I'm here is because I need to know that Tony Stark is safe and sound, and to take Clint back. And no, I don't believe, not even for a second, that Tony is going to be safe with you. I don't believe that you deserve someone like Tony. You are going to fall, sooner or later, and I'm here to make sure that Tony won't be dragged into hell with you.”

 

“I wouldn't be so sure, Agent, hear me out, let me explain to you why I brought you here, and then you'll be free to decide what to do and where to go.” 

 

“And I should believe that you are simply going to grant me my life and let me go if I say no to whatever offer you have in mind for me?” 

 

The Captain sat in front of Phil, he knew what he was about to tell him was going to change his life, both their lives if everything went like he was hoping.

 

“Yes, you will be free to go, with your sub of course, if you decide that what I'm going to tell you is not enough to keep you here.” 

 

“For some reason, Captain, you want to look like a better man than you are. You are offering me freedom, from everything, from you, and from what SHIELD had been, because we both know that you are perfectly aware of their lies. But at the same time, you know me well enough I won't leave this place without Tony...” 

 

“He's mine, Agent, I know you helped him. I know you and Clint see him as a member of your family, but he's mine. He was born to belong to me, and I won't let him go, not after everything that happened to both of us, not after the dark years I spent thinking that I was never going to meet him.” 

 

“And you know, Captain, that I don't trust you. I don't trust your intentions, or the men you are going to surround Tony with.” 

 

“And what gives you the right to judge me and the Dom I am, Agent?” Steve was beginning to lose his composure, and the self confidence that Coulson was showing while talking about Tony was enraging him.

 

“Nothing gives me the reason to judge you as a Dom, Captain. But when we talk about Tony, I have every right to talk, because Clint and I are the reason why he's still stable enough to bond.” 

 

Coulson knew that he was walking on thin ice, and risked enraging the man in front of him, but he needed the Captain to understand the kind of sub Tony was, and how damaged he really was, all of this without actually telling what was Tony's story to tell. 

 

Steve was working on controlling the fury that was raising in his veins, suddenly he regretted having Coulson there. Maybe he should have let his men take care of him at SHIELD HQ and dealt with Tony alone, being everything that was left in the world for his sub. 

 

“Did you... did you ever use him?” Steve had to know. And he knew Coulson was smart enough to understand that from his answer was going to depend his and above all Clint's life. 

 

“You have to understand someone. Captain before I can answer your question. And that means, I have to start from the beginning...” 

 

“And what the beginning would be in this case, Agent?” 

 

“The first time I heard about Tony Stark.” Steve fall silent. He had a feeling that was going to be a tale that he hated with all his soul. 

 

“The first time I heard about Tony Stark had been when SHIELD had put his eyes on him. Of course I knew who he was, everyone knew who Tony Stark, heir of one of the most wealthy family in history, and CEO and head of R&D of Stark Industries, but when SHIELD decided they wanted to force Tony to work for them, I had to learn everything about him. The first mistake we made, was to listen to Maria Hill, and try to put by his side a Dom that we could control.” 

 

Steve growled like a beast ready to attack.

 

“You dared to force a Dom on him?”

 

Phil knew that The Captain wasn't going to love what he had to say, and he always knew that what Hill had suggested had been a mistake, but he never thought he was going to see the day he had to tell Tony's Dom. 

 

“Obadiah Stane was a powerful man, someone who had worked with Howard Stark, and who had always wanted his Industry. Someone had thought that because of his brain, and his connection with the army he was going to be the perfect choice. We never understood who that snake really was until the moment Tony Stark got kidnapped in Afghanistan...” 

 

“Was this Stane behind what happened to him in Afghanistan?” 

 

For a moment Phil wasn't even able to speak. “How do you know about that?” 

 

“Tony told me last night. Now answer my question, Coulson.” 

 

“Yes, he was. After that I took charge of everything related to Tony Stark, forbidding Hill and Fury both to ever again put their noses in his life. Tony never trusted Director Fury. He's a genius and the best hacker I ever met. He was able to find everything about him, and since I met him for the first time, it was clear that he wasn't going to allow close anyone who had tight connections to him. He only chose to give me a chance because of Clint.” 

 

“Your sub?” 

 

“Yes. Tony didn't even know that a Dom can love a sub. Everything that he was taught was the opposite. Before he met Clint he didn't even know that a sub could be free and happy when bonded. He's the only reason I was allowed anywhere near him. Tony wanted to see me fail. He thought that what I was freely showing when I was with my sub was a bluff, a lie I was trying to trap him. Day after day he watched us, waiting. And day after day he was getting closer and closer even if he didn't realize it in the beginning.” 

 

A mix of emotions and doubts was roaring into Steve's chest; a storm that he wasn't sure he could ride. There were so many things he wanted to ask, so many thing he needed to know, and in the same time he didn't want to voice his thoughts. 

 

“Did you ever use him?” 

 

Phil was waiting for that question, and he knew he couldn't lie. 

 

“There are things, in Tony's past, that he should be, and will be the one to tell you, because I'll never break the trust he put in me, but because of those things, Tony is one of the most fragile and scared subs that you'll ever meet in life, being a genius doesn't help him when everything becomes too much, when every single thought and idea in his mind demands to be studied and created. Tony sees the world as numbers and algorithms, he lives in the future, but sometimes the things he sees and need to do are too advanced, so the technology we have is another obstacle between himself and what he sees. In moment like these he needs pain and blood, and humiliation, Captain. Because yes, he's that damaged, and that's what he was taught to need. I am bonded to another sub, and I love my Clint with all my heart, but when Tony had needed a Dom able to stop the voice of the one man who almost destroyed him, he came to me, and I helped him as much as I could, everything he had needed he found in me.” 

 

Steve felt the fury raising into his soul. He wanted to demand from Coulson all the answers to the thousands question he had. But his logical mind was screaming to him that the man was right. Tony was the only one with the right to tell his story, and Steve was the one who had to earn that kind of trust from his sub. 

 

He left the room in a rush. He didn't even stop when Coulson screamed to him to let him see Clint. Right now the only important thing in his mind was his sub, and Tony was waking up. 

 

*** 

 

Natasha was furious. She couldn't believe that The Captain was already so smitten with Stark, she couldn't believe he was going to fall for him like Coulson and Clint had. It was insane. 

 

“You really should stop now.” 

 

Natasha was too far gone to answer. She was to deep in the mind of the character she had played for so long, she snapped at her Dom, she turned, her body ready to attack, her hand already closed around the knife hidden in her belt.

 

The man was probably slower than Natasha, but his body was stronger, and he was better trained than, even if that was hard to believe, but above all he knew Natasha, he knew her body and soul. 

 

He grabbed her wrist, with more force than he had ever used to spar with her, and the delicate bones under her fair skin creaked under his fingers. Soon she was going to sport bruises. The knife hit the floor with a loud thud, and soon, it even Natasha hurt her lips to keep the scream inside, she was forced to voice her pain. 

 

“On your knees. Now!” 

 

He never had been more cold with her, and even if the woman understood she asked for that, even if her mind knew, logically, that she deserved what was happening, the voices of her former handlers, the voices of the people who turned her into the killing machine she was so proud to be, were telling her that it was all Stark's fault. Before him nothing like that ever happened. Before him she never turned against her Dom. 

 

The Soldier knew that Natasha was used to pain, she had been broken with pain. The woman, the killer that was created in the body of a child, had been created with pain and horror. To punish her with pain was only going to make things even worse. Since the moment he had bonded with her, he had known that to punish Natasha was going to be complicated and a delicate matter. 

 

The Soldier moved silently, sure that Natasha wasn't going to move. She was presenting herself, with her eyes downcast and her spine perfectly straight. She was tense, and probably trying to predict what her Dom was going to do. 

 

The man moved silently around their room, taking the items he needed, without making a sound. He knew that Natasha was well trained, but HYDRA had used him as silent killer for many years before she was even born, and he was going to take advantage of every advantage he had against her. As a Dom, he had realized since the first moment that like many other abused children Natasha couldn't stand to be exposed and ignored, she hated to be alone in the darkness, so he took a blindfold, heavy and rough, nothing like the silky one he used on Natasha when the played, and a ball-gag.

 

Natasha realized he was back only when she felt the blade of the knife she had wanted to use against her Dom on her skin. He was expertly cutting the leather suit she was wearing. Her movements were surgical, impersonal, and so cold that Natasha had to fight back a shiver. There was nothing in the Soldier of the Dom she had learned to trust and love. 

 

He was the Winter Soldier now. A man on a mission, and she was only a target, not someone to love and protect and care for. Not that Natasha was ever going to admit that that was exactly what she wanted, what she had ever wanted from her Dom. 

 

When the clothes laid on the floor, totally ruined and useless, The Soldier made a small job blindfolding his sub and silencing her. He grabbed her by the hair, forcing Natasha to get up. She tried to fight when she realized what he was going to do, but she never had a chance. Soon she found herself tied to an hook secured to the ceiling, the same one she always watched with fond eyes, after the chains and leather cuffs she loved were attached to it, and allowed her to play for hours and hours. But this time it was different. This time the cuffs were metal, and bit into her wrist painfuly. This time his fingers didn't linger all over her body in a phantom touch. Once again he had been distant and professional. 

 

He left her there, tied to chains, naked and exposed. Natasha could hear the Dom walk away. She could hear his steps going to the door, and the door being opened. The Soldier kept walking, and the door was never closed. Everyone could see her now. Everyone who was going to walk the corridors could see her, her body, her vulnerability, and she wanted to cry for the first time in years. 

 

What if her Dom was so mad that he didn't care about her anymore? What if he allowed other men, other Doms to play with her? Her mind was turning into her enemy now, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. The only one who could was The Soldier, and he wasn't there, he had left Natasha, and the woman didn't even know if he was going to come back. 

 

*** 

 

Tony was awake when Steve came back into the room. The Dom looked tired, and sad, and very pissed, and Tony tried to remember what he did wrong to make his Dom so angry, even if he couldn't understand what he could have done while sleeping. 

 

“Sir?”

 

Tony knew it was a risk to speak without permission, but the silence was getting too heavy to stand, and his fears were threatening to make itself too obvious, and the genius really didn't want to make Steve aware of how weak and useless he really was. 

 

“Stop it, Tony, and come to me.”

 

Tony didn't know what he was supposed to stop doing, but Steve sat on the armchair close to the book shelves that looked very comfortable, and very well used, and Tony crawled between his legs like he was told. 

 

When Tony was close enough to feel Steve's warmth, but not enough to touch, Tony stopped, unsure about what to do. Steve didn't tell him he could touch him, so Tony stayed put, on his knees, beautifully submissive, but too tense to really be comfortable. 

 

“Come closer, Tony.” 

 

Tony did what he was told, and put his forehead on Steve's massive thigh and the tension left his body. To be that close to Steve was calming, and for the first time Tony felt safe that close to a Dom. 

 

“Do you know what's happening to you? Why you feel so calm now?” 

 

Tony shook his head. He didn't want to talk, he didn't want to break that moment with sounds that he couldn't control. Tony was good with numbers and bots, because he could fix things with both, but words, words were tricky and insidious, and they never were able to fix things, they only make things harder and more painful in Tony's experience. 

 

“You are feeling me through our bond, Tony. That's how I knew you were panicking, and thinking so little of yourself. You'll never be worthless in my eyes, Tony. And I know for sure that I'm not the only one who thinks this. You revolutionized the world Tony, with your ideas and your mind, and you are worth so much more than that. But I know you won't believe my words. I know I'll have to prove this to you, and I will. I'll spend my life proving you how worth you are.” 

 

Tony didn't believe his ears. He didn't know what was going on, but knew that if he ever was going to lose the warm sensation that was heating his soul, he was going to die. If that was what felt to be bonded, Tony was glad he had waited for so long, never really losing hope he could find his Dom sometimes. He only regretted that he was stained and broken, Steve deserved so much more than what he could offer. 

 

“No Tony. You are exactly what I deserve and want. You are everything I ever wanted, and so much more. And I know you have been hurt. I know someone destroyed your trust in Doms, and I will do everything in my power to show you that not everyone of us is a monster. There are many things I have to tell you. There are many truths that had been hidden for so long that they are almost forgotten. But I need and want to tell you everything, my Tony. I want to be honest with you.” 

 

“You don't need to do that you know? A sub should never demand things from a Dom, he just should be happy with what the Dom decides to give.” 

 

Tony's voice ha been almost dreamy, like if the man was already descending, fast in his sub space, something that Tony had never been able to do without pain and fear. 

 

“Who told you this, Tony? Who lied to you so badly? I know that in the past Doms had thought they had the right to do everything, even hurt and humiliate their subs, but I am not one of them. I always thought that to be a Dom was a duty. To protect and cherish the submission of someone else, the most pure and precious gift is a mission we are called to make at our best. I am this kind of Dom, and I'll never stop fighting to make you see that I won't break you Tony. Not for my sadistic pleasure. I'll hurt you, in our playroom, and in our bed if you want pain plays, but I'll never break you.” 

 

“How is it possible that you are real?” 

 

Steve caressed Tony's hair, and the genius literally purred while his fingers slipped between his silky locks. 

 

“There are many things of me, Tony, that you won't like. There are many things that you'll be horrified by, but never forget one thing. It's an honor for me to call you mine, and I'll never abuse this power.”

 

“There are things in my past, Sir, that will make you run and will disgust you so bad that you'll probably decide to cut our bond n any way you can. I really don't think I have any right to judge you for what you did.” 

 

Steve wanted to tell his sub that there was nothing in his past that could push him away, but once again Tony wasn't going to believe his words. The only thing Steve could do was to prove himself, even if it was going to be the hardest thing he ever did not to snap and want to kill every single person ho ever hurt his Tony.


End file.
